Winters War Phase 2: Survival
by LauraB1983NL
Summary: Julia Berger, a new Inhuman with new powers is being trained by HYDRA to be utilized as a weapon of war. When her path crosses with the Avengers, she is eagar to escape with her new saviors who may offer her a chance at a new existence.
1. Chapter 1

She opened her eyes. A bright LED-light burned into her eyes. She rubbed her hands, covered with black leather gloves, over her face, before she sat up. In the background she heard doors opening and closing, people talking, screaming and begging. Rubbing her neck, she tried to remember how she got here, in this room of 10 by 10 feet. At the other side of the room she saw a small closet, a desk and a chair. Above the desk was a mirror, with a note. She stepped out of the bed and walked to the desk, removing the note and read:

_"Your name is Julia Berger. You have the power to absorb life from people by your hands…."_

She looked at her left hand and removed her glove. She investigated her hand some more. Then her door opened and a soldier, with a laser-shotgun, entered her room while he spoke in Russian. Julia became scared not knowing what he said and by her fear she froze. The soldier grabbed her by the arm and dragged her out of the room. He placed her in line with other people. The line with people started to walk and she had no choice to walk with them.

During the walk she looked at her bare hand. She remembered what she'd read on the note: _you have the power to absorb life._ Suddenly the line stopped and Julia bumped into the man in front of her. He turned around and looked angrily in her eyes. She felt intimidated. "I…I'm sorry," she stuttered.

An announcement was made by somebody with a German accent, but nobody could see him. "Soldiers, welcome at this HYDRA facility. Here, you will be trained as the best soldiers of the universe." Julia looked around trying to find out where this voice comes from. "Please follow our instructions or else you will be punished." As Julia looked around, she saw a man of mid 60's, dressed in a grey suit with a black tie, walking down the stairs followed by a young-looking man, mid 40's. "This is your leader, Alexander Pierce."

"Good morning, everyone," Alexander Pierce continued. Everybody mumbled good morning. The men walked along the line with people looking at them, one by one. "As you all just heard, you will be trained to be the best soldiers. The trainings are hard." He stood in front of Julia. "We will show no mercy." She swallowed her fear down her throat. They continued walking, "Each of you will be placed in a group and each group has their own mission." He turned around and walked back along the line, while the other man stood still. "If you do not obey, a hard punishment will follow." Once again, he stood in front of Julia. "Do not fail and do not disappoint us." Julia nodded as she swallowed, once again, her fear away. "I wish you all the best of luck. Guards, you may form the groups." He looked into Julia's eyes. "Except for you. Follow me."

Alexander Pierce, Julia, the young man and two guards walked through a hallway. They stopped at a door with two guards. Pierce entered a code into the door and opened it. He, Julia and the man entered the room followed by the security guards. The two guards who were walking them stayed outside to guard the door.

Julia looked around the room as they entered. The room had giant windows, black leather furniture and was very light.

"As you can see, young lady," Alexander said as he walked to the big window behind his desk. "All of the men and women here are very trained. Except for you. Do you have any possible idea why?" he asked as he looked outside, into the darkness of the world.

"No sir," Julia replied with a trembled voice.

"Think again."

Julia became nervous as the young man stood next to her, leaning forward with his hands on his hips. She looked at her left hand. Then she looked at the bare-naked arms of the man. _Absorb life from people_, as she remembered. Carefully she moved her left hand to the bare-naked arm of the man. Suddenly she grabbed it. The man started to scream as she held his arm. She could feel the energy flowing from his body into her body. After 5 seconds she released him. She was in shock as she looked at her hand.

"You piece of shit," the man yelled as he slapped her in the face, causing her to fall. The two guards aimed their gun at Julia. She held up her hands. "I'm sorry, I'm sorry. I didn't know that was going to happen!"

The man growled as he tried to punch her. "Rumlow, calm down!" Pierce ordered. The man tried to remain calm. Alexander Pierce threw a leather glove towards Julia. "Perhaps you need this." She caught and looked at it. She then looked at Pierce. "Put it on and have a seat," he said as he took place in his chair. Julia was in doubt. Pierce gestured her to take a seat in the couch. Carefully she stood up and sat down in the couch while she put on the glove. Rumlow stood behind her, arms crossed over his chest.

"Any idea now?" Pierce said.

After a moment of thinking, Julia replied: "Maybe of what just happened?"

Pierce sat down, folded and placed his hands on his desk. "You see, you are very different than the other soldiers we are training here. The soldiers here are very strong and very willingly to co-operate. But you…." Julia became even more nervous and scared. "You are here now for a month and don't progress in your fighting skills. Have you ever had a fight in your life?" Julia thought for a moment, then shook her head. "But you do have mutant powers. Do you ever use them?" Once again, she shook her head. Alexander Pierce gave her a smile. "Well…maybe it will be the moment to use them. But first…" He then snapped his fingers. The guards started to move and grabbed Julia by the arms.

"Hey!" Julia cried out scared. "What's going to happen? What are you going to do with me?"

Alexander Pierce kept silenced. She started to beg as she was dragged out of the room. "Let me go! Please!"

The guards said nothing as they kept dragging her through the hallway, followed by Rumlow. They went down a basement where men in lab coats stood around a machine. The guards threw her into the seat of the machine. After that the lab coated men restrained her arms with leather belts. "Please, what is going to happen?" Julia begged.

Rumlow walked over to her, leaned into her and looked deeply in her eyes. "This is your punishment," he said followed by a mean laugh.

Tears welled up in Julia's eyes. "Please, forgive me," she begged in a whisper.

He continued laughing as he made space for the men in lab coats. A helmet with wires was placed on her head. "This will sting a little bit," Rumlow teased as he pushed a button. Julia's screams filled the room as electricity flowed through her mind and body.

He was screaming as he quickly sat up in his bed. Heavily breathing, sweat dripping over his face and body, he looked around to see where he was. It was dark. Next to the bed was a night stand with a lamp. He turned it on. Once again he looked around once the room was filled with light. Nothing to see. He stepped out of bed, opened the bedroom door quietly and walked to the bathroom. He opened the water tap and splashed some water on his face. He dried his face with a towel and headed for the kitchen. He opened the refrigerator and took a can of Heineken beer. While he walked to the living room, he opened the can and started to drink. He looked out of the window. He saw how the city lights enlightened the streets. He took another sip of his beer. He released a sigh and took a seat on his couch. Next to his couch was a small table with a journal and a pen. He took the journal and started to write in it as he kept drinking his beer. A moment later, a knock on his apartment door. He looked up, "Who's there?"

"It's me, Steve."

He stood up and walked to the door. He looked through the peephole on the door. He saw his blond haired best friend, Steve Rogers. He opened the door and let him in.

"Are you okay, Bucky?" Steve asked.

Bucky Barnes released a sigh and shook his head as he closed the door. "It's that nightmare again," he admitted as he walked back to his couch. Steve followed him and saw the can of beer on the small table.

"So, you're drinking your problems away?" he asked concerned.

"Yup, what else can I do about it?"

"Well, you can talk about it."

Bucky shook his head, "Not every day, Steve. Someday you will be sick and tired of me." He took another sip from his beer. Then he gave the journal to Steve. Steve opened the journal and started to read. While he read, Bucky emptied his can of beer while he walked to the kitchen.

"Have you ever met her?" Steve asked.

"Never!" Bucky answered from the kitchen. He came back to the living room, eating a slice of salami pizza. "Never saw her in Siberia, as far as I know."

Steve kept reading as he asked: "Do you want to find out?"

Bucky shook his head with his mouth full of pizza.

Steve closed the journal and walked to his friend. "Listen, if you want to talk, come to me. I'm not getting tired of you." He placed a hand on Bucky's shoulder, "Or else I wouldn't have let you on my team." Bucky smiled and mumbled a thanks. Then they embraced each other. "Go back to sleep," Steve said in his best friends ear, "Who knows what kind of day it's going to be tomorrow." Steve released his friend and went back to his own apartment.

Bucky released a sigh and laid down on his couch.

Julia opened her eyes. She found herself laying on the ground in her room. The bright LED-light lightened her room. She turned around, lying on her stomach. A severe pain shot through her body. She tried to stand up, but her body was in too much pain to function. She turned around and laid back down her back. She stared at the ceiling and tried to remember what happened. Memory flashes went through her mind:

_Note_

_Soldiers_

_Her mutant powers_

_Alexander Pierce_

_Rumlow_

She laid her hands over her ears and closed her eyes to stop the flashes. After a while she looked up and noticed the note on her mirror again. She rolled over on her stomached and crawled to the desk. By grabbing the desk she tried to stand up. She felt the pain, but remained standing. She took the note and read.

_Your name is Julia Berger. You have the power to absorb life from people by your hands, but if you hold them too long, life will leave their body and die while you live._

"But what's too long?" she wondered in a whisper. She continued reading.

_You are here to be trained to be a Winter Soldier. Hold on…._

"Oh my god," Julia whispered in shock. "Who wrote this?"

Then the door opened. Quickly she put the note in the pocket of her jeans. She turned around to see who it was, but before she knew it, two pair of hands grabbed her arms and dragged her through the hallway. "No, not again!" she begged.

Once again she was in the office of Alexander Pierce. He sat in his chair behind his desk, Rumlow behind him. "I hope you recovered from your punishment." Julia stayed silenced as she was being pushed into a chair by the guards. Pierce had a file in his hand. "This is your mission," he said as he handed over the file to Julia. She took it and glared at it. "In there you will find all the information you need." She opened the file and saw a picture of a young man in an uniform of a sergeant. The file included a plane ticket to New York and a set of keys. "Find this man and bring him here." Julia looked at him. "Do not ask questions and do not fail. Now go," Pierce demanded. Julia carefully stood up and walked unsteadily out of the office.

Meanwhile in New York, the Avengers were all in a meeting room in the Avengers facility. Natasha Romanoff and Steve Roger, better known as the Black Widow and Captain America, sat next to each other.

"Where's Bucky?" the Black Widow asked Captain America.

Steve wanted to answer her question but before he could give it, Bucky Barnes entered the meeting room. His skin was pale, dark circles underneath his eyes and slightly unstable at his feet. "What happened to him?" she asked.

"Nightmares," Steve answered.

Bucky took a seat as Nick Fury started to talk. "Avengers, HYDRA is forming a new group of soldiers. Perhaps stronger than the Winter Soldiers we all know."

Bucky released a sigh and whispered to himself, "Not again."

Nick Fury continued, "We have to stop them before the country or even the world will be taken over by HYDRA." He looked at Bucky. "As for you, sergeant Barnes, you won't fight this time. Because they also want you back." Bucky looked confused. "They want to re-program you for their next war." Bucky looked a bit shocked. "For your own safety we will send you back to Wakanda," Nick continued. "King T'Challa knows the situation and will welcome you in his village. Your plane leaves tonight."

Bucky nodded. Nick Fury walked off, out of the meeting room. Bucky and the team stood up. All of his teammates said goodbye to him by hugging him, one by one. Captain America was the last person to say goodbye. "You know what I have told you?"

"Don't worry, man. I'll be fine," Bucky said reassuringly. They smiled at each other and hugged.

After hours of travelling, Julia arrived in her temporary, furnished apartment. She dropped all her bags and dropped herself in the couch. For moments she just stared at an empty wall, thinking about what happened the past 36 hours. But her mind kept blank. Pain in her body started to well up. She stood up and walked to one of her bags, to take out some painkillers. Two pills rolled out of the small, plastic jar into her hand. She threw them into her mouth, followed by half a bottle of Coca Cola Zero.

In the meantime, Steve brought Bucky to the J.F. Kennedy airport. He parked the car at a kiss-and-ride parking lot. They stepped out of the car. Steve went to the trunk, opened it and took out two big bags. Bucky took it them from his friend.

"Let me know when you have arrived in Wakanda."

"I will," Bucky said and walked off to customs. Steve stepped back into his car and drove off.

As Bucky walked in the airport, he could see a lot of security. He found it very odd and unusual. He walked by one of the security guards as he wanted to go to the check-in-desk. As he was five steps removed from the guard, the guard mumbled in his walkie-talkie. Bucky glanced around his shoulder and saw him talking in the walkie talkie. He stood in line to check-in. While he was waiting, he looked around at all the people and the guards.

Julia was on her laptop, looking for information about her mission. Suddenly her cellphone started to vibrate. She almost jumped up from fear because she hadn't expected a message. She took the phone and read the message she'd just received. She sighed, slapped her hand on the desk, got up and left.

At the gate, he was waiting to board the plane to Africa. Then his ears caught on a language he preferred to ignore. He looked up to see where it was coming from. He saw a young woman with a little boy in her arms, probably two years old.

"Samolet," the woman said to her child as she pointed the airplane. The boy said nothing and just stared outside, sleeping with his eyes opened. The woman pointed out a car that drove by. "Avtomobil."

Bucky felt getting nervous and grabbed out his earphone and smartphone out of his jacket. He plugged the earphone into his ears. Suddenly his phone failed and turned off. He sighed, annoyed at the situation, and rushed to the bathrooms. In the bathroom he looked at himself in the mirrors. He placed his hands on the washing stand and looked deeply into his eyes. "Stay away, you beast! Just stay away!" he growled at his own image. Suddenly he heard people screaming


	2. Chapter 2

Steve drove his way back home. On the other side of the road, three police cars and two police vans passed by. He looked up into the rearview mirror and saw they were heading for the airport. He looked back on the road. He didn't trust it. Then he gave his steering wheel a hard pull to the left. His car made a U-turn and ended up on the other side of the road. Stepping on the gas pedal, he headed back to the airport.

Julia looked around, while people ran around like crazy, screaming and trying to find a place to hide. The guards were aiming their guns at several people, looking for somebody. One of the guards saw Julia as she stood still, like a scared deer looking into the headlights of a car. He said something in Russian in his walkie-talkie and jogged to her. Julia ran away followed by guards, screaming in the language she was afraid of. She ran into the direction of the custom portals. As she passed one of the portals it beeped and showed red lights, but she kept on running. The guards followed her footsteps.

Two guards busted into the bathrooms, aiming their guns into nothing. They looked around, looking for Bucky. He was hiding in one of the toilets. Sitting on the toilet with his shoes onto the toilet bowl, ready to attack if the door was going to be opened. Instead the guards left the bathroom. Slowly he opened the toilet door. He saw it was safe and went out of the bathrooms. Sliding along the walls he saw the madness going on in the hallway.

As he arrived at the airport, Captain America jumped out of his car and ran into the hallway with his shield on his arm. Suddenly Crossbones stood in his way. The Captain stopped running just in time and held his shield in front of him.

"Hey there, you punk! Happy to see me?" Crossbones snarled.

"I'm happier not seeing you," Captain replied calmly.

Crossbones screamed as he attacked Captain America. He tried to kick Captain America, but The Cap quickly held his shield up, so he kicked that instead. Crossbones bounced back and tried to punch him. Cap grabbed his wrist and twisted it. A sharp small sword that Crossbones held in his hand scratched Cap's thigh. He looked at his thigh as a little bit blood came out of it. 'Is that it?' Cap wondered as he pushed away Crossbones with his shield. The enemy flew through the air and landed on his back on the ground. He flipped himself back on his feet. From behind his back he grabbed a canon-like-shotgun.

"Eat this!" he yelled as he fired. Captain America hid behind his shield as the shot hit it. From behind Captain America, The Falcon appeared and shot his bullets at Crossbones. It all hit his bullet proof armor. "Hey, that tickles, budgie!" Then Black Widow jumped out of seemingly nowhere onto Crossbones' neck. She smashed with her fists on his head, until he grabbed her elbows and threw her off his neck. She landed on her back. Captain America ran, made a jump and kicked Crossbones in the face. Crossbones just laughed, "You really think you are karate kid?" He grabbed Captain America by the throat and lifted him up from the ground. "Now what, boy?" Captain clenched his teeth as he tried to break free from his grip. Crossbones laughed. "You can't escape me!"

The Falcon flew by and fired his bullets into Crossbones' bullet proof back. Crossbones looked up and saw The Falcon flying by. He threw Captain America towards The Falcon and they hit each other. Both fell from the sky, but did not hit the ground. Instead they hovered just above it. They looked to their left and saw The Scarlet Witch, using her powers to protect them from the impact of falling. Slowly she made sure their feet hit the ground.

"Thank you," Captain America said as he nodded to her.

"You have to go to the gate. People are being held hostage there by HYDRA," Wanda told Captain America. "We will take care of the situation here."

Captain nodded and ran off to the gate.

People were still screaming and running around in panic. Julia looked scared into the muzzle of their gun. Caused by fear she started to hyperventilate. The guards said nothing. She walked backwards but the guards stayed close to her. They placed their finger on the trigger. Julia shook her head and started to beg: "No, no don't shoot." They kept holding the trigger. Tears welled up in her eyes. "Just go away!"

Then they pulled the trigger.

Julia fell to the ground, tightly closing her eyes and holding her arms around her head. She was waiting for the pain. After a moment she still didn't feel a thing and decided to open her eyes. A young man was standing in front of her. He was wearing a black long-sleeved sweater and held up a hand of steel. In that same hand he held two arrows. He grabbed the arrows and threw them on the ground. His blue eyes stared angrily at the guards. One of them wanted to say something in his walkie talkie, but before he had the chance, Bucky Barnes punched him with his metal fist.

The other guard grabbed his gun while his colleague, knocked out cold, fell to the ground. Bucky kicked the gun of his hands and punched him in the chest. The guard bend over and gasped for air. With his knee Bucky knocked out the second guard. He looked at the two unconscious guards and turned around to see how Julia was doing. She was still sitting on the ground, staring into nothing and breathing heavy. Bucky crouched in front of her. "Are you okay?" She kept staring into the distance. He waved before her eyes, but no reaction. "Hey?" Bucky said worried. "Hey, wake up." He shook her a little bit by the shoulders. "It's okay now. You're safe."

After a while, Captain America came by. He looked around and saw all the people were gone except for Bucky, Julia and the two unconscious guards. He crouched next to his friend. "What happened?" the Captain asked.

Bucky sighed and shook his head. "I was getting triggered and had to calm down in the bathrooms. Then I heard the people screaming and saw that guards were pointing their guns at her."

"Do you know why?" Captain asked as he looked at Bucky.

Bucky shook his head as he looked at The Captain. Then they heard the young female whisper, "HYDRA." The men looked at her. Julia blinked her eyes, waking up from her trance. "They are from HYDRA," Julia whispered with a trembling voice. "Looking for me." She looked scared at Bucky. "And you."

"Why looking for you?" Bucky asked wondering. Julia looked at him as tears welled up in her eyes and shook her head.

"I don't want to be a soldier," she admitted as a tear rolled down her cheek. "I'm trying to fail at everything, so they can let me go. But instead…. they keep me." She looked at the two men. "And their punishment…." She stopped as pain welled up in her body. She held her arms over her stomach and moaned.

"Hey, are you okay?" Captain America asked worried. "Is there something we can do for you?"

"It's okay. It's my punishment," Julia gasped for air. "It will pass…this pain." Julia curled up and moaned more as more pain welled up.

Bucky and Captain America looked at each other. "This is not good," Captain America said softly to Bucky.

"I know," Bucky replied softly. "I know what she's dealing with."

"Steve!" Bucky and Captain America looked over their shoulders. Scarlet Witch, Falcon and The Black Widow ran towards them. "Crossbones escaped," Black Widow said. She was shocked to see Julia in pain. "Who is she?" she asked worried.

"Don't know. But she was from HYDRA," Steve answered, looking up at his colleagues.

Bucky saw Julia relaxing somewhat, but she remained lying on the ground with her eyes closed. He checked her pulse in the neck. "She passed out, Steve."

"We have to take her to the hospital," Captain America said looking at her.

"No," Bucky said suddenly. The friends looked at each other. "HYDRA can hack every computer. That's how they know where I am. They can hack computers in every hospital, police station, airports…everywhere! We have to make sure that she's safe. I can't go to Wakanda now, because HYDRA will know."

Captain America thought for a minute. He looked at Black Widow. "Call Bruce Banner and tell him we have a medical emergency." Black Widow nodded, grabbed a small cellphone out of the pocket of her suit and made the call.

Rumlow walked into Pierce's office. Alexander Pierce stared out of the window, looking over the city. "Did you catch them?" he asked.

"No, but it was close," Rumlow answered. "Very close." Pierce looked at him. "If those Avengers…"

"Just admit you failed," Pierce interrupted. Rumlow sighed and bowed his head down. "Don't worry. We will get them. It's just a matter of time." Pierce looked and smiled at Rumlow, which made him smile, as he had thoughts about Pierce's idea.

In the hospital wing of the Avengers tower, Bruce Banner placed a stethoscope on Julia's chest. She was still unconscious and was laying on a large table.

Captain America looked worried. "Is she going to be okay?"

"Well, her breathing is irregular, same as her heartbeat. I'm going to give her some fluids and painkillers through an IV," Banner answered. "And some oxygen." He looked at Captain America. "Whatever happened to her…. it's not good."

Then the Captain noticed a piece of paper sticking out of her jeans. He took it out, folded it open and started to read. He looked up and saw, standing behind a large window, Bucky looking worried. Captain walked out of the medical room while reading. Bucky walked up to him.

"Steve, we need to talk." Captain America looked up. Bucky sighed, searching for the words he wanted to say. "I know her." The Captain looked confused. "Okay, this sounds weird, but she is that girl… from my dreams," Bucky admitted.

The Captain gave him the note. "She has a name, Julia Berger," he said, as Bucky reads the note. "This girl is not an ordinary girl. Who knows what HYDRA wants from her."

"Wow," is all Bucky could say as he was done reading.

Captain America patted him on the shoulder, "Come, let's have coffee. She is in good hands with Bruce now." Together they walked away.

Bruce Banner placed an oxygen mask around Julia's mouth. He slowly opened the tank to give her the amount of oxygen she needed. He walked up to a drawer, opened it, took out a pair of rubber gloves and put them on. He went to the corner of the room to grab an IV bag holder. Out of a refrigerator, he took out a sack of fluids and hung it on the holder. He dragged it to Julia's body. He removed the leather glove from her right hand and injected the IV into her hand. He checked if the fluids were getting into the needle and into her veins. Once that worked, he walked again to a drawer taking out a needle. He rolled up the sleeve of her shirt, to take a sample of blood. With the sample of blood, he walked to a microscope on his desk. He dropped a few drops of blood on the object plate of the microscope. He looked through the eyepiece.

Slowly she woke up. Lights were shining in her eyes. She pinched her eyes to focus her sight. Carefully she sat up, noticing the IV in her bare hand and the oxygen mask around her mouth. Panic boiled inside her body. Julia removed the mask. Then she tried to remove the IV. Suddenly she heard a small cough and looked up into the direction where it came from. She saw a man, wearing a dark green blouse, looking into a microscope, seemingly unaware she had woken up.

She remained quiet as she roughly removed the IV out of her hand. She clenched her teeth as she did it, to avoid screaming in pain. Some blood ran out of her hand. She slid from the table and sneaked behind the man. Suddenly she placed her hand around his mouth and held her hand down firmly. She felt the energy rushing from his body into hers. Bruce's scream couldn't be heard, caused by Julia's hand. After twenty seconds she released him, causing Bruce to pass out on the ground.

Julia looked at him in shock, not knowing yet how strong her powers really were. She was breathing heavily, but noticed the pain in her body was gone. She looked around to see where she was. It all looked unfamiliar to her, and that made her scared. Scared that HYDRA took her to another place.

She tried to remember her last memory. All she could remember was pain. Also, a blurry memory of two men, one blond haired and one dark haired, came into her mind. Then she heard the man on the ground moaning. She turned around and looked at him, as he was on his hands and knees. He growled angrily. Slowly his skin turned green and started to grow. Julia looked at him in fear as he grew bigger and bigger. He turned into a big, green monster, started to growl and smashing the desk. He looked at little Julia as she looked at him in fear. He roared, causing Julia to run for her life.


	3. Chapter 3

Bucky stared into his coffee. Captain America looked over Black Widow's shoulder as she was searching for information about Julia on the computer. "No information about her. No police reports, just nothing," Black Widow said.  
"Looks like she is no threat for us," Captain America replied.  
"She can be a threat for HYDRA," Bucky said while he stared into his coffee. He looked up at them as the two were looking at him. "If she doesn't do what HYDRA demands, they will kill her. Believe me, I have seen and heard it all. It's no fun hearing somebody screaming, followed by a deadly silence."  
Then they heard a roar, coming from a distance. They all looked up. "A scream like this one?" Captain America asked Bucky. The second roar they heard was bigger and louder.  
"It's Hulk!" Black Widow said.  
"The girl!" Bucky said shocked.  
The three ran to the hospital wing. Once they arrived there, they saw The Hulk smashing and growling around.  
Bucky looked at the table where Julia previously had been, but it was empty. "Where is she?" Bucky asked worried. Captain America was also looking around, searching for her.  
While the men searched for Julia, The Black Widow tried to contact The Hulk. "Hey, big guy." The Hulk looked at her. "Calm down before somebody gets hurt," she said calmly. The Hulk stared at her. Slowly, he listened to her and calmed down. "Good job, big guy." Gradually he started to shrink, his green skin fading into human flesh.  
Then Captain America noticed Julia hiding behind a desk that had been tossed sideways. Slowly Captain America and Bucky approached her as she was looking curiously at The Black Widow and The Hulk, who turned into Bruce Banner.  
Bruce Banner wobbly stood on his feet. He sank to the floor and fell on his knees.  
"What the hell am I looking at?" Julia asked herself. "What did HYDRA do to my head?"  
"This is not HYDRA," Captain America told her. "We are The Avengers. We are assembled together to protect people from HYDRA."  
She looked at Captain America and Bucky. Then she looked over to The Black Widow and Bruce Banner. She shook her head. "You did something with my head while I was gone, huh?"  
"No, we didn't," Captain America said, reassuringly. "You can trust us. Bucky was also a victim of HYDRA, just like you."  
Julia looked at Bucky. Bucky nodded.  
"I… I really don't know what to believe." Captain America placed a hand on her shoulder. Julia snapped, "No don't touch me!" Immediately he removed his hand. "Just don't or else bad things will happen." She moved her hands through her hair. "I need to go! I have to fulfill my mission or else HYDRA will punish me again," Julia said as she stood up and walked out of the room.  
The Avengers looked at her while she left.  
"She is clearly scared and traumatized," Black Widow said.  
"All caused by HYDRA," Bucky added.  
"She needs help… and fast!" Bruce concluded. "Her fear causes her a lot of stress and her heart can't take it any longer."  
Then Bucky remembered something. "Could you find Adamantium in her blood?"  
Bruce stood up and walked to the desk that had been tossed sideways, where the microscope had been on, "As far as I could see there was no Adamantium in her blood." Bucky released a relieved sigh. "But she hardly has any kind of vitamin and white blood cells in her blood. A flu could kill her," he added as he was looking through the trash.  
Everybody was in shock.  
"Could this have been caused by HYDRA?" Black Widow asked.  
"I don't know," Bucky answered. "But I hope for her sake it won't happen."  
Then Bruce found the injection needle with Julia's blood, still intact. He sighed, relieved. "I am going to investigate her blood once more for the Adamantium."

***

Julia entered her apartment. She closed the front door and leaned against it.  
"It's been a hard day, huh?" She was shocked to hear a male voice from her living room. Slowly she walked closer to the living room. Suddenly she got punched in the face and fell to the floor. Wiping her nose with her bare hand, leaving a trail of blood. "This is just part one of your punishment!"  
Julia was afraid to look up. "Well, I did my best," she said.  
She was grabbed by the throat and was lifted. She gasped for air when she looked, scared out her mind, into the eyes of Rumlow. "That is the most pathetic excuse ever! You could take him down with your stupid powers and bring him to HYDRA. But no!" He threw Julia at the couch. She coughed as she tried to breath. "I distracted those Avengers while you had every opportunity to take him down."  
"The whole airport was filled with security. I could do nothing! I had to save my own butt," she defended.  
Rumlow pointed a finger at her, "At least you could've tried!"  
"How? You weren't even there!" she yelled.  
He smiled, "HYDRA is like Santa Claus. We know everything."  
Julia looked angrily at him. He pointed his finger at her again. "Now bring Barnes within 36 hours, or else I will bring him in and you will be punished!"  
He turned around and rushed out of the apartment, leaving Julia on the couch.

***

In his bed, he stared at the ceiling. Every moment of the past fifteen hours came back into his mind. Then he stood up and went to the kitchen. He opened the refrigerator and took out a can of beer. For a moment he stared at it. Seconds later he put it back and closed the door.

Steve Rogers sat behind his laptop, looking for more information about Julia. He looked at the note he found in her pocket. He sipped at his mug with warm milk, as someone knocked on his front door. He stood up and walked to his front door. He saw his friend Bucky when he opened it.  
"Hi… sorry for waking you so late," Bucky apologized.  
"No problem, come in," Steve said, as he gestured Bucky inside.  
He stepped into his apartment. In the living room he walked to a wall covered with personal pictures of Steve. He looked at them, one by one. A picture of Steve as a baby with his mother, a picture of Peggy Carter, a picture of skinny Steve in his army outfit and much more. But the picture Bucky admired the most is the one of him with Steve when they were twelve years old.  
Steve woke him up from his trance, "Want some warm milk with honey?"  
Shivers went up his spine in disgust, but didn't reject. "Sure." Bucky turned around and took a seat on the couch.  
A moment later Steve came back with a mug of warm milk. "Warm milk is the best medicine if you can't sleep," he said and gave the mug to his friend. Bucky drank it all in once. "Well, apparently not only your left arm is made of steel." He sat down next to his friend.  
"But it still is disgusting," Bucky admitted, after he swallowed down the warm drink.  
Steve chuckled and took a sip. "But I guess you're not here for the drink?" he then asked serious.  
Bucky sighed. "You know, Nick Fury won't like it, but I want to fight HYDRA." He looked at Steve. "I want her out of there, so she can be free and have a normal life. With the help of us."  
Steve stood up and took a seat behind his laptop. "I'm still trying to find information about Julia, but still there is nothing."  
Bucky thought for a while. Then he asked: "How's the security in your laptop?"  
"With the best of the best. Why?"  
Bucky stood up and walked over to Steve. "May I?"  
Steve grabbed another chair and placed it next to his. Bucky sat down in the chair and took over the laptop. "Now let's hope they haven't erased this from my mind," he said as he started to type. Steve watched how he entered the dark side of the internet. After a moment a website asked for a password. Bucky typed in the secret password. The page started to load. "Cross your fingers, Steve." They both looked at the screen with tension. Then it gave them access to a secret HYDRA website.  
"Bingo!"  
Steve was amazed. "Wow! What is this?"  
"Here they have every registered soldier of HYDRA. You can also find reports about their missions," Bucky explained. "Now let's see if she is in the list." He typed in Julia's name. After a few seconds, a picture of her with additional information came on screen. The men read all the info.  
"She has been brainwashed twice," Steve noticed from the information. "Maybe that's the punishment she mentioned? And maybe that's why she has this note with her."  
Bucky agreed with him, "That's a possibility." Then he read further. He blinked his eyes. "What the…"  
Steve looked at him, "What?"  
"I am her new mission." Bucky typed in his name and information about himself showed up on the screen. "Status: wanted. But why?" He went back to Julia's profile to search for information, but couldn't find any. Then he went to his own profile to search for information. Again, no luck. He sighed.  
Steve laid a hand on his shoulder, "Hey, you and she are going to be fine. We will protect both of you."  
Bucky thanked him with a smile, feeling happy with a friend like Steve.

***

Hours later, Julia was laying on her sofa, staring at the ceiling. Her mind was blank and numb. Her eyes focused on the ceiling. On her cheek was a trail of blood from her nose. She couldn't move her body because she was in a state of trance.  
Minutes later she woke up from her trance. She blinked her eyes a few times and started to look around. She sat up. Again, she looked around. She touched her nose with her bare hand and looked at her fingers. Blood is what she saw. Slowly she stood up and went to the bathroom.  
She opened the tap of the shower and got undressed. She stepped under the shower and felt the warm water, streaming down her body. She washed her face with her hands. Suddenly flashbacks flashed through her head.

_Security guards at the airport_  
_The man with the steel hand_  
_The blond man_  
_The man who turned into the green monster_  
_Rumlow_

Julia got scared and sat down on shower floor, breathing heavy, not knowing what to do against these flashbacks. The flashbacks repeated in her head, till it started to hurt. She grabbed her own head and screamed, hoping the flashbacks would stop.

***

The next morning, Nick Fury looked over the shoulder of his assistant, Maria Hill. She was typing out a report on HYDRA. Behind them was a large table, where the Avengers had their meeting a day ago. In one of the chairs The Black Widow was sitting.  
"So, HYDRA can hack every public computer, you say?" Nick Fury asked while he was still looking at the computer screen of his assistant.  
"Yes, sir."  
"And this young lady is their soldier?"  
"I can't say she is a real soldier," a male voice said. Nick and Black Widow looked up and saw Captain America and Bucky Barnes walking up to them. "We presume she is a victim of HYDRA," Captain America told.  
Nick walked up to the men and shook their hands, "Captain. Sergeant. Glad you are alright. Any more information about this lady?"  
"Not much, but we know a name, her status and her mission."  
"Good. Have a seat and tell us what you know," Nick said, as he folded his arms in front of his chest.  
Captain America and Bucky Barnes walked to the empty chairs and took a seat; the Captain next to the Black Widow and Bucky Barnes across from them. "Through a note we have discovered her name, Julia Berger. From this note we also know she is a mutant who can absorb energy from people." Nick Fury raised his eyebrows as he listened, showing interest. "Bucky could hack a website which belongs to HYDRA. She has a profile with her missions." He looked at his friend. "Her mission is to bring Bucky back to HYDRA. The reason is unknown."  
"When we arrived at the airport, soldiers of HYDRA were already there. Dressed as airport security," Bucky added. "HYDRA has hacked the airport computers." He looked at Maria Hill as she was still typing the report. "There is a possibility HYDRA has also hacked all the computers in this room." Maria stopped typing and looked shocked at Bucky. Then she looked at Nick as he was looking at her.  
Then he stood up and called everyone in the room, "I want all of you to scan your computers! Now!" All the people heard his demand and started to scan, including Maria Hill. Nick looked over her shoulder as the virus scanner did its work. Minutes went by. The three Avengers waited patiently.  
Impatiently, Nick Fury stared outside the window, close to Maria Hill. A bleep came out of her computer.  
"Sir." He looked at her. "Computer is clean. No signs of being hacked."  
"Good," he said.

***

Meanwhile, Julia was working on her laptop. Next to her was a small notebook containing notes of information she had picked up during her computer trainings. She was on the main website of SHIELD. She opened another computer program and typed in some codes from her notebook. She selected the text and placed it inside another field of the SHIELD website. She pressed the 'enter'-key and the page started to load. Anxious she looked at the loading page. After minutes it was done. She grabbed her cell phone and called a number. "Hacking SHIELD's website is completed."  
"Good," an old man's voice said through the phone. "Now bring Barnes here. Or else…" and the person hung up. She sighed as she put her cellphone in the pocket of her jeans. With her hands she rubbed over her face, placing her elbows on the table. For a moment she sat with her hands over her face. Thinking about a way to complete her mission. Then she stood up and left her apartment.

She walked through the streets close by her apartment. In the distance she saw a pub with a terrace outside. She stood in front of it and looked at the entrance. "Hey!" she heard a female voice. Julia didn't react. "Hey, you," she heard, and looked up. She saw a young, lightly brunette walking up to her. "Hey, how are you?" Julia was amazed, not knowing how to react. "We just talked about you. Come… have a seat at our table," the unknown lady said and gestured her to follow her. Julia decided to follow, still thinking who she could be. "Oh, by the way, I'm Wanda." They arrived at a table, with a man sitting. "This is Sam."  
"Hey, what's up?" he said and reached out his hand. Julia doubted for a second. Then she shook his hand. "Have a seat," he gestured to an empty chair, across from him. A waitress came and placed two cappuccinos on the table. "Would you like something to drink?" Sam offered.  
"Oh no, thank you. I just had breakfast," Julia said nervously. The waitress left their table.  
"So, tell me…. how are you feeling?" Wanda asked curiously.  
She felt very uncomfortable as she answered her question, "I guess I'm doing okay."  
"What's your name?" Sam asked, as he lifted his cup of cappuccino.  
"Uhm… my name is uhm… Julia?" Her mind was blurry, caused by the flashbacks.  
Sam took a sip of his warm drink. He made a face of disgust. "Yuck! No sugar!" He looked around at the empty terrace. About five tables further, he saw a jar with sugar cubes. "Why can't they place a jar with sugar cubes on every table?" he wondered, annoyed.  
Wanda giggled. "Shall I?" She moved up her left hand and made a 'come' gesture with her fingers, in the direction of the jar. Julia looked at the table with the jar and saw how the jar seemingly lifted itself into the air. It flew three feet above the ground, towards their own table. She looked back at Wanda, who was staring with all her focus at the jar and moving her fingers to make it reach the table we were sitting at. The jar landed, and then two sugar cubes came out fell into Sam's cappuccino.  
"Now that's what I call service," Sam said happily, as he stirred his drink with a teaspoon.  
Julia blinked her eyes a few times and shook her head. She rubbed her eyes with her hands, covered with her black leather gloves.  
"Are you okay?" Wanda asked curiously.  
She looked at her. "Oh yeah, I'm just… uhm… I didn't know you also have super powers."  
Sam and Wanda became curious. "Also?" Sam asked.  
She sighed. "I can absorb life energy with my bare hands."  
"Oh wow," Wanda reacted as Sam nodded his head. "Interesting," he said.  
Julia became more uncomfortable. "Uhm… yeah…. it's no fun, to be honest."  
"I understand," Wanda comforted her. "Sometimes my powers are so strong, that I can't handle them."  
Julia looked at Sam. "What about you?" she asked curiously.  
He took a sip of his drink and said, "I can fly with a special suit, that's all."  
"So, no super powers? Just a suit?" Sam nodded. "Okay, sounds… interesting."  
Then a cellphone went off. Sam took it out of the pocket of his jeans and answered it. "Hello?" he said, as he stood up and walked away.  
Julia became more nervous. She looked at Wanda as she wanted to say something, but saw her looking at her thoughtfully. Julia became scared, not knowing what Wanda was thinking.  
After a moment Wanda said, "I am looking inside your head. You are scared." Julia swallowed, because she knew she spoke the truth. "You don't want to listen to them, but you have to." Panic went through her veins.  
Sam looked at them from a distance as he was still listening on the phone. A black SUV drove by very slowly. A window of the car opened and he saw how a gun pointed at the two girls. "Girls, look out!" he screamed as the gun went off. In fear, Julia held her head and closed her eyes.  
Wanda held up her right hand and the bullet stopped close to Julia's neck. "But they put a lot of pressure on you to bring him to them." Then she placed her hand down and the bullet fell on the ground. Julia removed her hands from her head and looked at the bullet on the ground.  
The SUV sped up and drove off.  
Sam ran to them. "Who were they?"  
"HYDRA," Wanda answered. "Looking for her. Again."  
Suddenly Julia stood up and ran away. "Hey!" Sam yelled at her. But it didn't stop her. She was running down the street as hard and fast as she could. Then from the sky, Wanda came down. Julia stopped, slipped, fell on her back and hit the ground with her head. For a moment, she just laid on the ground. Sam ran to them and stood above Julia. She looked scared at him, not knowing what would happen next.  
"Look, you can't keep on running," Sam said. "I give you two choices, a good one and a bad one. You can surrender to them or surrender to us. It's up to you."  
"Listen, no matter what I choose, it won't end well," Julia explained, as she sat up. "If I surrender to them, they will keep experimenting on me. If I surrender to you, they will come and get me while they hurt you and your friends."  
"Girl, have you seen what she can do?" Sam snapped as he pointed to Wanda. "And that's not all. We also have a Hulk."  
"The big green monster?" Julia asked, scared.  
"That's right. Just think about it."  
Julia stood up, rushed her hands through her hair and turned away. For a moment she was lost in thought, as she looked at her hands.  
"Well?" Sam asked.  
Julia looked up, turned around and said: "I have a feeling this isn't the safest option for all of us…." She looked at Sam and Wanda. "But I guess it is best to go with you."  
Sam laid a hand on her shoulder. "Best choice ever in your life," he said with a smile.  
From a distance a silver colored BMW was parked. Behind the wheel was Rumlow, looking out of the window at Julia, Wanda and Sam. He saw Julia walking away with the two Avengers.  
"Mission proceeds. She leads us to the Avengers," he said in his hands-free Bluetooth device.  
"Copy that," another male said in his ear.  
Rumlow smiled as he started the engine and drove away.


	4. Chapter 4

In the HYDRA facility there was a large room with computers and a large group of people. Alexander Pierce looked over the shoulder of a blonde female. They both stared at a computer screen. On that screen the SHIELD website was displayed. Then the screen went black. Pierce held his breath. Three seconds later the screen showed the SHIELD site again. A message appeared, "completed."  
"Sir, the hack has succeeded," the blonde female said.  
He let out a sigh of relief. "Good. Now collect all the information we need," he demanded and walked away.

***

The two Avengers and Julia entered the facility. They walked through the main hall, as Julia looked around. She felt nervous, scared and wished she had been killed by Rumlow, when he had the chance. "Miss Berger," she heard a male say. She looked into the direction where the voice had come from. A man, dressed in black and an eyepatch over his left eye, walked into her direction. Followed by Natasha, Steve and Bucky. She became scared of his powerful attitude. He stood still, two feet away from her. "For our safety, my female colleague will body search you. Do you agree?"  
She nodded. Fury turned around and nodded at Natasha. He walked away and Natasha took his place. Julia's body started to tremble as Natasha looked into her eyes.  
"I… I have never experienced this before," Julia admitted.  
Natasha smiled at her. "Don't worry, it won't hurt. Raise up your arms, sideways."  
Julia did what she'd been asked. Natasha laid her hands on her shoulders. Suddenly, Julia winced in fear. Fury grabbed his gun from his belt, but was been stopped by Steve before he'd pulled it out. Julia walked two steps backwards. She was breathing heavy again. Bucky could see the fear in her eyes and felt sorry for her.  
"Okay," Natasha said to Julia. "Calm down first." Julia closed her eyes as she tried to calm down. "We will do this again and I will tell you what I am doing. Slowly. Is that okay?" Natasha explained.  
She opened her eyes, let out a deep breath and nodded.  
"Raise up your arms, sideways." Julia did. "I am going to touch you by the shoulders and I go down to your ribs." Gently Natasha touched her shoulders. Julia slightly winced, but remained standing. Natasha moved slowly with her hands from her shoulder to her ribs. "Now I am going to touch your left arm and then your right arm." Julia took a deep breath as Natasha did what she said. "Now I'm going down, to check your left leg and then your right leg." Natasha crouched and searched her legs. She stood up. "Okay. Are your pockets empty?" Julia shook her head. "Can you remove the items from your pockets?"  
Julia went with her hands into her pockets. She held out a set of keys out of her left pocket and a cell phone from her right pocket.  
"Okay. You may give them to me." Julia laid her items in the hand of Natasha. "Now take off your gloves." Julia's body froze. She stared in panic at her. "Please. Take off your gloves," Natasha repeated. Her hands trembled as she slowly removed her gloves. Natasha looked at her bare hands. "Okay, put them on. We are done." She gave back her items, turned around and walked back to the three men.  
"She is unarmed," she said to Fury.  
"Good. Let's bring her to Dr. Banner for the psychological examination. Follow us, miss Berger," Fury said, as he turned around. He started to walk deeper into the facility, followed by Natasha, Steve and Bucky. She walked behind them, followed by Wanda and Sam. As they were walking, Bucky looked over his shoulder to Julia. Their eyes connected and he gave her a smile, which made her lips curl up a little bit.

In the medical wing of the Avengers facility Bruce Banner was looking at a computer at information they had collected about Julia. He looked up as Julia, Steve and Fury entered. Julia looked around and saw almost everything was back in place. She felt guilty for the trouble she had caused. Fury and Banner shook each other hands. "Dr. Banner, miss Berger is here."  
Banner looked at her and reached out for her hand. After a moment of doubt, she shook it with her gloved hand. "Listen, I'm really sorry for what happened earlier," she apologized.  
"Well, that's okay," Bruce said. "I accept your apology. Have a seat." He gestured her to a small table with two chairs. "We will start your examination." Fury and Steve turned and left the room. Julia took a seat. Bruce walked to his desk and grabbed a paper notebook and a pencil. He sat across from her, opened the notebook and started to write. "Okay, I am going to ask you some simple questions. You can answer them with yes or no." He looked at her. "Understood?" Julia nodded. "Good. First question. Do you often feel tense or anxious?"  
"Yes, sir," Julia said immediately.  
"Do you have any anxious or panicky feeling without knowing where this feeling comes from?"  
"Mostly I do know where it comes from."  
"Care to explain?"  
Julia started to think. She became silent and wrung her hands.  
"You don't have to explain the whole situation, if it's too hard for you."  
She shook her head. "No, I don't want to talk about it."  
"That's okay," he said and smiled at her to ease the tension.  
She bowed her head. "Sorry," she mumbled.  
"Don't be. It's okay to know your boundaries. Shall we proceed?"  
She looked up, took a deep breath and nodded.

At the other side of the window, Sam, Steve and Bucky were looking at the interview.  
"She looks very tense," Steve mentioned.  
"Very," Sam agreed.  
All Bucky could do was look at the interview and remember his own interview with Zemo.

"Do you have the idea that your fear arises from a traumatic experience in the past?" Bruce asked as he was writing in his notebook.  
"Yes."  
"Did you have a traumatic experience that led you to suffer from flashbacks and nightmares?"  
Julia took a deep breath and answered with a trembling voice, "Yes."  
"Do you have trouble remembering the details of this traumatic experience?"  
She closed her eyes. Her whole body started to tremble out of fear. Julia covered her face with her gloved hands. "Please stop," she begged.  
Bruce laid down his pencil. "Okay, let's calm down. I want you to look at something inside this room." She removed her hands from her face and looked at the computer on his desk. "Now breathe in through your nose, hold it for three seconds, and then breathe out through your mouth." Julia followed his advice as she stared at the computer. Suddenly she saw the screen turning black. She closed her eyes and swallowed down her fear. When she opened her eyes, the screen was still black. A second later it turned on again. Another shock of fear went through her body. "Concentrate on your breathing," Bruce said. Julia didn't respond, she just stared into nothing. He leaned over to her and waved with his left hand in front of her eyes. No response.  
Steve, Sam and Bucky entered the room, having seen everything behind the large window. "What happened?" Steve asked the doctor.  
Bruce stood up and walked to his desk. "I believe she is in a trance caused by panic." He opened a drawer and took out a small flashlight. He went back to her and started to shine into her eyes. "Her pupils are reacting."  
Bucky stood next to Bruce and crouched to be on eye-to-eye level with Julia. He took her shoulders in his hands and shook her a little bit. "Hey, wake up," he said with a gentle voice. "Everything is okay."  
Sam tracked down the trail from her eyes to where she stared at. He found out she was staring at the computer on Bruce's desk. He walked to it and began to use it.  
After a moment, Julia woke up from her trance. She blinked her eyes and looked into Bucky's eyes, a beautiful mix of green and blue. "Hey, are you okay?" he asked, looking concerned.  
She took a deep breath. "Kind of…. I think," she answered.  
"Hey, the computer is frozen," Sam said. Everybody looked at him.  
She looked over his shoulders and saw Sam standing at the computer. "Oh shit," she whispered. She laid her face in her hands.  
"I can do everything I want, but it's not responding." He dove underneath the desk. "Where's the plug?"  
"I don't have a plug," Bruce replied.  
"What?! What kind of computer is this?"  
"Hey, it's a SHIELD computer. We have the most secure computers in the world," Bruce snarled back.  
Sam got back on his feet. "Then tell me why it froze!"  
"HYDRA." They all looked at Julia. She became uncomfortable as everyone looked at her. "Sorry," she whispered and bowed her head. "They made me hack the computers here. For secret information." They kept looking at her. She threw her hands in the air, stood up and walked to the other side of the room. She stood in a corner. A few tears rolled down her cheeks. Then she felt a warm hand on her shoulder. "I'm no good," she sobbed. "I'm just a mess, a problem maker…"  
"No. You're not," she heard Bucky saying. She looked at him. "This is not your fault. Okay?"  
She sighed. "Yes, it is, because when I won't do what he demands…" She shook her head and looked away. "Those screams when soldiers got their punishment. The pain…"  
"I know. I can still feel the pain in my body when I think of that machine."  
Her body started to tremble as her mind showed her images of the machine, hearing the screams inside her head. She covered her ears and sank to the floor. She started to breathe heavily.  
"Hey, calm down. This is not HYDRA. You're safe here," Bucky tried to calm her down as he crouched next to her. But it didn't help. She still covered her ears and went into a state of panic. All Bucky could do for her is hold her, telling her everything would be fine and that she was safe.  
Sam, Steve and Bruce looked at them and felt sorry for Julia.  
"Any news from the interview?" Steve asked Bruce, as they kept looking.  
He sighed. "Clearly post-traumatic stress disorder and a severe anxiety disorder."  
"No doubt about it," Sam added.  
Suddenly Nick Fury busted into the room. He walked towards Julia and Bucky, grabbed his gun, stopped and pointed it at them. Bucky looked at him and kept holding Julia to protect her. "Move, sergeant!" he growled. Bucky just looked at the angry Fury.  
Steve stepped in between them. "What's going on?"  
"HYDRA hacked our computers, thanks to her!"  
"It's not her fault," Bucky defended Julia.  
"Then why did she hacked us?"  
"She had no choice!"  
Steve lifted up his hands. "Guys, calm down. Nick, put down your gun." He kept his gun pointed at them. "Like Bucky said, she had no choice, Nick. She's a victim now and needs to be cured. With our help and protection." Slowly Nick calmed down, but kept his gun pointed. "She is in fear and pain and we need to fix her. Just like we did with Bucky. And it will take a lot of time."  
Finally Nick completely calmed down and placed his gun back in the holster. He crouched in front of Julia as Bucky released her. He laid a hand on her back. With fear in her eyes, she looked at the one-eye-man. He smiled.


	5. Chapter 5

Nick and Sam were walking outside the facility with Julia. While fighting against her tears and taking a lot of pauses, she told them what happened to her at HYDRA. They stopped at the lake, behind the facility.

She sighed as she looked at the flow of the water. "My life isn't safe anymore." She swallowed as a tear escaped her eye. "I can't remember where I lived, what I did and what my personality was. All I have is a name, useless powers and a war in my mind."

"But we can help you," Sam said.

She huffed and smiled, but the smile quickly disappeared. "Please, spare your energy. I can't be cured."

"Tell us, why did you leave HYDRA?" Nick asked.

She shook her head as she kept looking over the water. "I haven't. They send me out for a mission. But then I screwed it up. They found me and punished me. They say that HYDRA is like Santa Claus. They know everything and where you are. Who knows, maybe they are here as well."

The two men looked at each other.

"She's right," Sam mumbled.

Then Nick walked back to the facility, leaving Sam and Julia behind. Sam looked at him as he left. He looked back at Julia.

"Can you tell me more about your mission?"

After a short silence she said, "All I can say is that HYDRA needs one of your friends and I have to bring him." She looked at him. "But I am scared of going back."

"Because of their punishments?" Sam questioned. Julia almost choked in her own breath. Her eyes grew bigger. He had the feeling she was falling into a trance. He laid a hand on her shoulder and shook a little bit. "Hey. Stay here. Look around." She did. "What do you see?"

"Trees. The water," she answered with a trembling voice.

"What do you hear?"

She was listening for a moment. "The wind. Birds in the sky."

He smiled, knowing this exercise worked well trying to stop a panic attack. "What do you smell?"

She took a few sniffs. She looked at Sam. "I smell…." She sniffed some more. "Old spice aftershave?"

Sam laughed. "You have a good nose!" His remark made her smile and she looked away from him, feeling shy. "Feeling better now?"

"I guess I'm okay," she answered, still looking away. "Thanks," she whispered.

It became late in the afternoon and it was getting colder. She shivered, caused by the cold and Sam noticed it. "Let's go inside." She nodded and followed him back to the facility.

When they entered the facility, Nick walked up to them with Steve behind him. "I am going to upgrade the security inside SHIELD. Normally I invite you to stay here for the night. Unfortunately we don't have enough space for you. But you may stay in Captains safe house," Nick offered and gestured to Steve. Steve gave her a smile. She gave a smile back. "Also, I would like to invite you to dinner. We have a Sokovian paprika stew with pork on the menu. Accompanied by a salad and mashed potatoes on the side. Made by Wanda," Steve offered.

Sam was getting excited, "Oohh, that's good!"

Julia started to get nervous.

Steve noticed it. "You don't have to," Steve said to calm her down.

Her eyes moved from man to man, searching for an answer. "Uhm, I... uuh… I can have some… bites."

In a separate room in the facility, there was a large dinner table surrounded with chairs. Each Avenger took a seat. Nick took a seat at the head of the table. After a moment, Wanda came in with a large saucepan with the stew, followed by Natasha with the salad and mashed potatoes. Wanda placed the meal in the center of the table.

"Okay guys, take whatever you want. There is more in the kitchen," Wanda said as Bucky and Sam simultaneously attacked the pan, taking out a few pieces of pork. Natasha handed Nick the potatoes and Steve the salad. After he had scooped up the salad, he gave the bowl to Julia. She took out three scoops and gave it to Wanda, who took place next to her.

Julia took a deep breath as she looked at the vegetables. She held the fork with a shaky hand. She jabbed into a piece of lettuce and took a small bite of it. Then she slid off the vegetable by moving the fork over her plate.

"Hey, would you like to have some stew?" Wanda asked.

"Oh no, thank you. I'm a vegetarian."

"Oh, that's good. Would you like to have some potatoes?"

"I… uuhh… I'll only take the salad. I'm not very hungry. Sorry," Julia said nervously.

Wanda smiled and gave the bowl to Natasha, who sat at her other side.

During dinner everybody was chatting at each other and enjoying the food. Steve observed Julia as she was still jabbing her fork in her salad, but hardly took a bite. He glared over at Bruce, who sat across from them. He noticed the same thing that Steve did.

Later that evening, Steve opened the door of his apartment. He entered, followed by Julia and Bucky. She looked around as they walked inside. Steve placed his keys on the dinner table. Bucky stared at a wall covered with pictures. Next to him Julia stood and she also stared at the pictures.

Steve went into his kitchen to make some coffee. Then he went into his bedroom and came out with a matrass. He laid it a feet away from the couch, together with a pillow and a blanket. Another blanket and pillow went on the couch. "Bucky and I will sleep here. You may sleep in my bed," Steve offered. "Would you like to have some coffee?"

"I don't like coffee," she said, ashamed.

"No problem, I can give you some warm milk with honey."

Bucky's body started to shiver in disgust at the thought of it.

Julia smiled friendly at him. "A glass of water will be fine."

Later they sat around the dinner table; Bucky and Steve had their coffee, Julia just a glass of water. In their middle was the note Steve found in Julia's pocket. She stared at it.

"Can you tell us why you have this?" Steve asked as he pointed at the piece of paper.

She closed her eyes. "It's a kind of reminder of who I am and what I am." She opened her eyes and stared at the note. "Their punishment…" She winced a little bit at the word. "…is that they remove almost every memory from your mind." Steve looked at Bucky. His friend nodded as a confirmation. "It's a very painful treatment. Electricity rushes through your body, like they are cutting you with knives from the inside out." Steve listened in disgust. Bucky looked away as she kept talking. "And then… suddenly… you know nothing. Who you are, where you are. Nothing." She looked up at Steve. "That's why I have this note."

"You have written this before…"

"Before my first punishment," she interrupted Steve. "I heard rumors about it, so…" She looked at Bucky, but he was still looking away. "So I can have my own identity before they give me one."

Steve took the note in his hand. "You also wrote about absorbing life with your hands."

She looked at her gloved hands, releasing a sigh. "I was seventeen when I discovered it. By accident." She looked back at Steve. His face was serious as he listened "He didn't survive it. Since that accident I tried to hide it, trying not to use it. Until HYDRA kidnapped me." She could feel Bucky's eyes looking at her. She looked back at her hands and felt ashamed. "Since then I have used it twice." A silence appeared. Then she stood up. "I'm going to sleep. Good night," she said as she walked to the bedroom.

Steve looked at his friend. "You believe her?"

He looked at him and answered, "Of course. She doesn't lie. That punishment is hard. I can feel her pain when she talks about it." He took a sip from his coffee. "It's just hard to hear that someone else had gone through the same as me. But she is in good hands with us now."

Steve could only nod. "Does she look like the girl of your nightmares?"

"Exactly like her," Bucky said after he finished his coffee. "Who knows, maybe she is telepathic and can do things with your mind?"

His friend shook his head. "I don't think so. I do believe she is having severe flashbacks, caused by her PTSD."

Bucky bowed his head and released a sigh. "Poor girl."

It was hours later and Julia was still not sleeping. She sat, legs crossed, in the middle of Steve's bed. Once again she was in a state of a trance while flashbacks went through her mind. This time her breathing was calm. After a while she blinked and woke up from the trance. In the distance she heard a door of a car closing.

Out of curiosity, she climbed off the bed, walked to the window and took a peak. She saw Rumlow on the street, looking around. A few black vans appeared on the same street. Then she saw Rumlow looking up. Out of fear she sat down on the ground, underneath the window. In panic she started to think about what to do.

Quickly she went up to the living room, where the men were asleep. She noticed a sizzling sound, but didn't pay much attention to it. "Guys," she whispered. She started to shake Bucky's body. "Guys, wake up. HYDRA is here."

The men kept sleeping. She started to feel drowsy. She was fighting against falling asleep. Once again she noticed the sizzling sound. Before she could figure out what it was, her view became blurry. HYDRA-agents with gasmasks busted into the apartment. Julia tried to stand up, but fell onto the floor. She saw how the black and blurry figures were standing above her and looked at her. Then the world went black.

He opened his eyes. His eyes burned, caused by the bright LED-lights and white ceiling. He looked to his left and saw a redhead, sitting in a chair and reading a magazine. "Hey." His voice was hoarse.

The woman looked at him. "Steve!" She placed the magazine on the bedside table. "Glad you are awake."

Steve looked around. "Where am I?"

"In the hospital."

He looked confused at her. "Why?"

She sighed. "We couldn't reach you, so we went to your safe house and found you on the couch."

He sat up, being more confused. "We were just sleeping."

"You just woke up from a coma. You have been 'sleeping' for five days straight, Steve." He looked up shocked at her. "There was a severe amount of sleeping gas in your home. What was the last thing you can remember?" she questioned him.

Steve sighed, looking at the end of his bed. "Nothing special. Bucky and I were talking along with Julia about who she is. Then we went to sleep." He looked back at her. "Where are they?" he asked, worried.

Natasha shrugged her shoulders. "We don't know. They weren't there when we got in."

He released a big sigh. He was thinking.

"What are you thinking about?" Natasha asked.

Without a doubt he had the answer. "HYDRA."

Natasha took a deep breath. "Sam managed to find out where the hack came from. It's from the Swiss Alps."

Steve rushed out of his bed. "Then let's go there!"

Four days earlier, Alexander Pierce and Brock Rumlow walked through the hallways of the HYDRA facility. The hallway was filled with Julia's screaming. They entered the room just as a scientist finished brainwashing her mind. She breathed heavily, clearly in pain. She laid on a large metal table and had been tied by her wrists and ankles with leather belts. Around her head was a headband with wires, connected to the scientist's computer.

"Doctor, report," Pierce said as he looked at her.

"At this moment I am stimulating the aggressive part of the brain. It is going as planned."

"Good. Keep going till it is on its fullest."

"Yes, sir."

"NO!" Julia said suddenly to the scientist. "Enough! Let me go!" She looked angrily at Pierce and Rumlow.

Pierce looked at her and smiled. "I can see the aggression in your eyes, compared with a few weeks ago." He looked at the scientist. "Well done, doctor." The scientist smiled and nodded, pleased with him. "And wipe her memories when you're done," he said as they walked out of the room.

"We should have done this earlier," Rumlow said, as they walked to the hallways again.

"Perhaps."

Rumlow could only look at Pierce after he answered. They entered another room. This room was highly secured with armed soldiers. Also in this room was a large metal table. Bucky laid on it, unconscious.

"Report."

"Winter soldier is completely wiped. We are ready to wake him up."

"Wake him up," Pierce ordered.

One of the scientists called out ten Russian words. After the last word, his eyes suddenly opened. Pierce looked into his eyes. "Sergeant?"

He looked at him with his blue-grey and blank eyes. "Ready to comply," he mumbled, without any kind of emotion.


	6. Chapter 6

Julia sat on the ground of her cell. Her back was facing the door. HYDRA had been experimenting on her to develop her mutant powers and her anger. Since a few days she's been a part of a new punishment.

Her cell door opened. She looked over her shoulder and saw how a man was pushed into her cell. He fell on the floor. Julia stood up and looked over at the victim. He looked scared at her as she crouched down next to him. Suddenly she grabbed him by the throat with her bare hand. He gasped for air, while her powers drained out his life. After a minute, his eyes rolled back into his head, his skin becoming pale and his lips blue. She released him and looked at him without any kind of feeling. She stood up as the door of her cell opened. Two soldiers dragged out his lifeless body, while Julia took a seat on the floor, in a corner of her cell. She held her knees against her chest and laid her head on them. Her mind drifted off into nothing. In the hallway she heard people talking, but didn't listen to them. Slowly, she fell into a calming trance. Blurry images came into her mind.

_Man with the metal arm_

_Redhead woman touching her shoulders_

_Blond man at a dinner table_

_The doctor_

_Man drinking cappuccino_

She "woke up" when her cell door opened again. This time a blonde young woman was pushed inside. She fell on the ground, crying. Julia stood up and walked over to her. The woman looked up at her. "Please spare me," she begged. Julia took a seat on the ground, in front of her, and gave her a fake smile. Slowly, she moved her bare hand to the woman's face and touched her cheek. The woman winced and clenched her teeth, while her life was sucked out of her body. A minute later, Julia released her and the woman fell to the ground. Once again, soldiers came into her cell and dragged out her lifeless body. She watched them, until the door closed.

At the other side of the HYDRA facility, the Winter Soldier was having a practice fight against other soldiers. Scientists in lab coats were taking notes while he fought against an Asian soldier. The Asian soldier was very known into martial arts, but that didn't stop the metal armed man. He could stop every kick and fist blow with his unbreakable arm. Then the Asian soldier suddenly grabbed the arm. He tried to break it like a twig. The Winter Soldier waved his arm away, which made his opponent fly, smacking against a wall and dropping on the floor, knocked out unconscious.

The scientists nodded their heads, made notes and one of them whispered in the ear of his colleague. HYDRA soldiers came into the cage and dragged out the beaten soldier. Other HYDRA soldiers went to the Winter Soldier and spoke to him in Russian. Then they escorted him back to his cell.

"Okay, according to the coordinates of the hack, the HYDRA base in Austria should be on the south side of the Alps," Captain America explained, while he pointed at a map. All the Avengers were looking down at the map and listened to their Captain. "If these are correct, we land the Quinjet two miles from the HYDRA facility in this open space."

"I have a better idea, making us waste less time," Falcon said. "Why not just jump out of the jet, while it hangs above the facility? Wanda and I can fly. You can handle very high jumps. Only one of us has to carry Natasha."

"Well, sounds fine to me," Black Widow replied.

After a moment of thinking, the Captain nodded his head. "You're right. Perhaps Banner can land there and wait for us?" he asked, while he looked at Bruce Banner, who sat behind wheel of the Quinjet.

"Understood," the doctor said while he glanced over his shoulder. "We arrive in four hours."

The captain nodded his head. "Good." He removed the map and replaced it with the map of the HYDRA facility. "We will split up. Sam, you take the west side and Wanda the east side of the facility." They both nodded. "Natasha will go south and I take the north. We communicate through the communication system in our ear." All the Avengers listened. "We have to be carefully. Who knows how Julia and Bucky…." He released a sigh and looked at all of his Avengers. "Just be careful and keep wearing your gloves." They all agreed.

Julia laid on her bed, facing the wall of her cell. She heard her cell door open and turned around to see who came inside. But nobody was there. She sat up and waited for a moment. After nothing happened, she stood up and walked to the door. In the doorway she investigated the hallway. Nobody. She decided to leave her cell, walking through the hallway. While she walked through the facility, she looked around. It was quiet. Too quiet. "Frauhlein." She stopped. Eyes wide. "Frauhlein, what are you doing here?" a voice with a German accent asked. She remembered the voice, but she didn't know from where.

"Who are you?" she asked with a trembling voice.

"I am Arnim Zola, the voice of HYDRA."

"Where are you?"

"I am everywhere. And I know everything. Even about you." She shook her head and continued walking. "If I was you, I would stay here." Julia didn't listen and kept on walking. She walked towards a door. "Freeze," he demanded with severe accent.

She didn't stop and took the doorknob in her hand. Suddenly somebody grabbed her by the shoulder, turned her around and pushed her against the door. A metal hand closed around her throat, as she looked into his blue-grey eyes. She clenched her teeth as she tried to break free from his grip. She kicked into his stomach, which made him bend over and release her throat. With her knee she hit his face, making him fall to the ground. She turned around and opened the door.

Rumlow and a group of HYDRA soldiers aimed their guns at her. "Where are you going, chickadee?"

Anger boiled up in her blood. With a scream she attacked Rumlow, but was stopped by the Winter Soldier, who grabbed her arm. He pulled her away from the group of people, made her fly through the air and landed on the ground. Slowly she stood up as she saw the Winter Soldier walking up to her with Rumlow behind him. She ran up to them, pushed the Winter Soldier away and jumped at Rumlow. She kicked the gun out of his hands.

After she landed, she wanted to punch him, but he caught her gloved hand and gave her a head butt. It knocked her out for a few seconds. Her view was blurry, and a red fluid came in her eye. She stumbled backwards until she felt a metal arm around her middle, holding her tight. She blinked her eyes a few times to sharpen her view.

Rumlow was laughing. "You really think you can escape HYDRA, huh?" He walked closer to her. "But guess what… you'll never leave HYDRA!" He cocked his head towards the Winter Soldier. "Just like him."

More anger boiled up inside her body, and she let it all out. Screaming, she hit the Winter Soldier in the ribs with her elbow. With her fist she hit underneath his chin. He released her and stumbled two steps backwards. Quickly she took off her glove and grabbed him by the throat. She gritted her teeth as she felt his energy flowing through her body. Winter Soldier screamed out his pain.

Rumlow watched the scene with joy. Then he noticed something. While Julia held Winter Soldier, the wound on her forehead disappeared. "Interesting," he whispered.

Suddenly Julia winced and screamed out like she was in pain. Flashes of imagines rushed through her mind.

_Bucky and Steve at the dinner table_

_Picture of Bucky and Steve when they were kids_

_Bucky and Steve helping her at the airport_

A small blast appeared between them, smashing them apart. They both smacked on the ground. Julia grabbed her head, still screaming as flashes went through her mind. At the other side, Winter Soldier stood up and looked at her…. slightly worried. Julia stopped screaming, but still laid on the ground with her hands around her head. She was breathing fast and heavy. Winter Soldier slowly walked over to her and crouched next to her. Gently he laid his bare hand on her shoulder. He could feel her body trembling in fear.

"Hey, it's okay now."

She looked up and saw his blue-green eyes looking at her, smiling at her. Then his eyes rolled to the back of his head and passed out. Julia was in shock and saw a small arrow in his neck. Out of nowhere she felt a small stab of pain in her arm. She looked at it and saw the same arrow. She looked at Rumlow, but her view became blurry and she fainted.

Rumlow sighed. "I hate it when it's getting dramatic"

A HYDRA soldier ran towards Rumlow and stopped next to him. "Sir, the Avengers are on their way. They'll be here in three hours."

Rumlow smiled. "Good." He cocked his head towards Julia and the Winter Soldier. "Wipe them twice and prepare them for battle."

Alexander Pierce looked out of the window as Rumlow walked into his office. "Sir, the girl can heal herself."

"How?"

"During a fight she got wounded. She touched the Winter Soldier and the wound healed itself."

Pierce looked at him. "Sounds interesting. How is the soldier?"

"Still up and running. But when she touched him, it looked like he remembered her. I gave the order to wipe them twice."

Pierce walked over to a small table. He grabbed a bottle of whiskey and poured some in two glasses. "Sounds like we have a lot of work to do wither her," Pierce said as he walked to Rumlow with the two glasses of whiskey.

Rumlow took over a glass. "I've told you she is…"

"Useless?" Pierce said while he circled his drink. "Perhaps, but thanks to her and the soldier, The Avengers are coming this way. So we can eliminate them… once and for all." He lifted his glass for a toast. "Hail HYDRA."

The Quinjet hovered above the HYDRA facility. The tailgate opened. Captain America looked at his Avengers and nodded. He jumped first, followed by the Falcon. The Scarlet Witch created a bubble around The Black Widow and herself. Together they floated downwards. Once they landed on the roof, the bubble burst.

The Black Widow walked through the hallways of the facility. Strangely she didn't see any sign of soldiers guarding the place. "Nobody on my side."

"Same here," she heard The Falcon.

Captain America looked around while he hid behind his shield. "This must be a set up. Banner?"

Bruce Banner looked at the radar inside the Quinjet. "I see some movement in the main hall. Close to Sam."

Sam stopped walking. He pushed on some buttons on the sleeve of his suit. A metal bird appeared from his back. It flew to the main hall. Suddenly it got shot and it felt down on the ground. The Falcon spread his wings and flew upwards. Crossbones came around the corner. He looked around while he kept his weapons aimed. Silently Falcon flew into the main hall. In a distance he saw Julia.

"Guys, I have…" Before he could finish his sentence, he got smacked on his head and lost conscious. Crossbones removed the communication system out of Falcon's ear. "Sam? You there? Answer me," he heard Captain America saying.

Crossbones laughed. "Say bye bye birdie," and he broke the earpiece.

"Sam?" Captain America almost panicked.

"I lost contact," he heard Banner saying.

The Captain sighed. Suddenly it got dark in the facility. The Captain looked around and was ready to defend himself. "Banner?"

"Electricity fell out. Must be a distraction. Two individuals are coming your way. At four o'clock!"

After receiving the message, he threw his shield at the given direction. He heard two men grunting as the shield hit them, knocking them out. It flew back, the Captain catching it and fastening it back on his arm.

"Confirmed," he said as he continued walking.

Bruce Banner was looking in full concentration at the radars. Then his ears caught up a sound behind him. Slowly he looked over his shoulder to see what it was. Three HYDRA agents were in the Quinjet, aimed their guns at him. Bruce raised up his hands. "Don't piss me off," he warned.

The Black Widow sneaked through the hallways. In the distance she saw the main hall and Julia and Crossbones, but they had The Falcon on a chair tied up. "Guys, I have found them. They are in the main hall. Bruce, can you check the surrounding?" A silence followed. "Bruce? Do you hear me?" She became worried.

"Bruce, answer us!" she heard Captain America.

Suddenly a growl of The Hulk took over the communication system. The eyes of The Black Widow widened in fear.

"Bruce!" Captain America yelled. The system lost all the contact. He sighed and quickly he turned around. There he was. His companion. His long-time friend. Bucky. But in his blue-grey eyes he saw The Winter Soldier. He sighed, because he knew that HYDRA screw up his mind.

"What did they do with you this time, Bucky?" he asked, while he shook his head with sorrow. The soldier said nothing and just stared at his mission. The Captain, on his turn, stared back at the Winter Soldier. Suddenly he got distracted by a scream, somewhere in the facility. When he looked back he saw the Winter Soldier attacking him with a knife. The Captain could block the attack with his shield and pushed him away.

He opened his eyes. He looked around himself when he noticed he had been tied up on a chair with handcuffs. He heard Crossbones laughing. "Did the little night owl have a good sleep?" Behind the enemy he saw his wings. "Well?" The Falcon kept his mouth shut and looked angry at him. Crossbones chuckled. "Maybe you need more sleep? Well, I can take care of that," he said as he stepped aside. He saw Julia, who walked up slowly towards him. Falcon sighed and shook his head in disbelief, as he saw the emptiness in her eyes. She stood still in front of him. He looked up at her, as she looked down at him.

"Julia, please don't. This is not you," he whispered at her. She kept silent as she lifted her bare hand. Gently she laid it on his cheek. When their skin touched each other, an electric shock appeared. Quickly she pulled away her hand. She looked from her hand to Sam. Sweat of fear ran over his forehead. "Come on! Wake up, Julia!" It made Crossbones laugh. Without any emotion in her face, she looked at him. Again, she laid her hand on his cheek. Energy rushed out of his body into hers, including flashes in her mind.

_Them sitting outside the café_

_Sam at the computer_

_Them standing along the water_

Julia released him and looked at him with big eyes. Sam panted. He felt dizzy and his view was blurry. He blinked a few times until his view was sharp enough. He saw her looking at him. "Julia?"

She took a breath through her nose. "Old Spice again?"

Her remark made him smile.

"Finish him!" Crossbones demanded impatiently.

Julia turned around and looked at Crossbones. "No."

Crossbones was amazed. "What the…?"

"He is my friend."

"You little bitch!" He rushed over to her and punched her in the face. She lost balance and fell to the ground, bleeding from her nose. She looked up at Crossbones and before she knew it, he grabbed her by the throat and lifted her up. "You are the most worthless piece of shit I know! If it was up to me, I would kill you."

"Then do it," she said, while she gasped for air. He smiled at her and before she knew it, he threw her through the air, smashing her against a wall. The blow was hard enough to knock her unconscious.

"Jul!" Sam yelled.

Crossbones just chuckled as he looked at her. "Now I'm going to finish this first," he said as he walked over to Julia. While he walked to her, a black ball fell out of the sky. Suddenly it exploded, followed by a lot of smoke. Out of the cloud of smoke, The Black Widow came out of the air and landed on his shoulders. Quickly she removed Crossbones helmet, threw it on the ground, pounded her fists on his head. He grabbed Black Widow by her arms and threw her off his shoulders, towards Julia. With a grunt she landed on the floor. Crossbones laughed out loud. "Well, look at that! Two for the price of one! Never expected this."

Black Widow looked up and threw a small, metallic disk at the villain. Wires with electricity spread over his body and paralyzed him. Quickly she ran to The Falcon and released him from the handcuffs.

"Are you okay?" she asked.

"Don't worry about me. It's Julia we have to worry about." He looked up and saw Crossbones walking up to them. "He's up again, Nat!" Sam panicked.

Suddenly with a scream, Julia jumped on Crossbones back and grabbed his face with her bare hands. His body froze while she absorbed his life energy. Falcon and Black Widow were relieved to see Julia alive. She looked up at her new friends.

"Go! I'll be fine!" she warned them.

"Are you sure?" Falcon asked worried.

"Yes, just go! I'll catch up when I'm finished here!"

"Okay. Come on," Black Widow said, as she started to run out of the room. First Falcon went to get his wings. He took them and looked up worried at Julia. She made eye contact with him. "Please go," she said without a sound. With doubt he ran away.

Julia kept holding Crossbones face as he screamed out his pain and fell on his knees. She closed her eyes and gritted her teeth when her body started to ache. Suddenly she felt a stab of pain in her right side. Julia released the villain and laid a hand on the painful side. She saw him falling to the ground. Pale face, blue lips and a bloody knife in his hand. Her body started to tremble as she gasped for air. Slowly she looked at her hand. It was covered with blood.


	7. Chapter 7

Meanwhile, Captain America was fighting against the Winter Soldier. The Soldier fired his gun at The Captain. He was able to block the bullets with his shield, while he was walking closer. The weapon fired its last bullet. The Soldier threw his now useless gun away and grabbed a new weapon, but before he could use it Captain smacked him with his shield.

The Soldier lost his balance and fell to the ground. The Captain sat on his back, while The Soldier laid on his stomach. He grabbed The Soldiers arms and held them on his back. The Soldier struggled to fight out of his grip.

"Listen to me!"

"NO!" The Soldier yelled.

"Bucky, I know you will listen to me." The Soldier grunted while he tried to break free. "HYDRA has Julia. She must be very scared. Only you can calm her down."

With a scream The Soldier broke free from his grip. He rolled away from him and stood up with another gun in his hand. Captain kept his shield up as he crouched behind it. They were both catching their breath as they stared at each other.

"Like I said, Julia needs you," The Captain continued. "She is here somewhere in the facility, scared out of her mind." The Soldier did nothing but stare and aiming his gun, as The Captain continued his speech. "She needs your help, Bucky." A long moment of silence followed. "Bucky?"

"Shut up!" The Soldier yelled and fired his gun. The Captain hadn't seen it coming and one bullet hit his shoulder. The Soldier walked up quickly to his target, ripped the shield out of his hand and smashed it in Captain's face. He fell on his back. This time The Soldier was on top of him, with a knife against Captain's throat and the gun against his head.

"I'm not Bucky!" The Soldier yelled. He pushed the knife deeper against the skin of Captain's throat. "I am HYDRA's first," he growled in Captain's face. "And you…" The Captain closed his eyes and waited for his death blow. "You are my mission." He pulled the trigger. The gun made a click. Nothing else happened. Suddenly Captain opened his eyes and kicked him off his body. The Soldier smacked against a wall. Captain jumped up to his feet and ran to the knocked down Soldier. He grabbed his throat, while he lifted him up.

"You are James Buchanan Barnes, Bucky! You're not HYDRA's first! You are my friend, my companion, a part of my life. For damn sakes, remember it!" The Captain yelled angry. He looked into his blue-grey eyes, filled with hate. The Soldier gritted his teeth as he gasped for air. Then Steve saw something happening in his eyes. His blue-grey eyes blazed red. The Soldier closed his eyes and calmed down. He opened his eyes again and it went from red into Bucky's original green-blue color.

"Steve?" Bucky gasped for air.

"Who are you?"

"Let me go, it's me. Bucky."

The Captain released his throat but kept him pushed against the wall. "Prove it!" he growled.

Bucky was catching his breath. "You drew comics and tried to sell them."

He sighed in relief and released him. Bucky fell on his hands and knees, while he caught his breath. Captain crouched down next to him.

"What happened?" Bucky asked as he looked up at his friend.

"There is no time for explanation." Both men looked up at the female voice. "We must find Julia and get out of here," Wanda warned.

Sam and Natasha were running through the facility. Suddenly Sam stopped and turned around.

"Sam?" Natasha called out as she stopped.

"I don't trust this." He looked at her. "You go, I'm going to check on Julia." Without saying anything else, he ran off.

Natasha continued running, leaving the facility.

Sam arrived back at the main hall. He saw Crossbones, who was down on the ground, a trail of blood next to him. Slowly he walked closer to the body, and saw the pale color of his skin, his blue lips and the bloody knife, close by Crossbones' hand. He followed the trail of blood, to the other side of the hall. The trail stopped and Sam looked around. Suddenly he saw her on the ground, on her stomach, in another doorway. He mumbled a curse word and ran to her. He fell on his knees, next to her. He turned her around and saw a bloody wound on the right side of her stomach. "Oh no," he whispered and gently placed his gloved hand around her neck to check her pulse.

Slowly she opened her eyes. "Sam?" He was relieved to see her alive. "I had to come to you," she said with a groggy voice.

"I know," he said. "What happened?"

Tears welled up in her eyes. "I killed him. I'm so sorry," she cried.

"Don't be sorry. It's not your fault."

"Yes, it is. I took his life and in return, this is what I deserve. Who knows, maybe he had a family. With a lovely wife and cute children. And I ripped it all apart," she rambled with guilt.

Sam grabbed his shirt underneath his suit and ripped off some of the fabric. "Just stay calm and everything will be fine," he told her. With the piece of fabric, Sam put pressure on her wound to prevent more bleeding.

She winced and gasped for air as he did that. She clenched her jaw and grasped the ground with her nails. "It hurts," she groaned.

"I know. Just keep breathing, okay?"

Her eyes widened in fear. "Footsteps," she whispered in panic. Sam looked up at the sound of the footsteps. He spread out his wings to protect Julia. The footsteps were coming closer. Julia's body started to tremble while she tried her best to remain calm. Sam looked over his shoulder and his wings.

Steve, Bucky and Wanda came from the other side of the main hall. Sam was relieved. "Glad you are here."

The three came closer, while Sam closed his wings. Wanda stopped and held a hand over her mouth as she was shocked to see Julia wounded on the floor.

Bucky kneeled next to Julia. "Hey."

She looked into his eyes. "J—James?" She could remember his name from HYDRA's file.

He smiled at her. "Bucky. You may call me Bucky," he reassured her.

"What happened?" Steve asked, shocked as he crouched next to Sam.

"Crossbones showed up," Sam explained. "Julia could stop him. For good."

Steve looked at her and she looked at him. "Well done." She shook her head in disbelief. "I know it doesn't feel right. What if I tell you, you have defeated one of our strongest opponents. Will you believe me?"

She looked at him with dazed eyes. "Maybe," she whispered.

He laid his hand on her forehead and could feel the heat of her skin burning through the fabric of his glove. He looked back at Sam, worried about her state of health. "Where's Natasha?"

"She went back to the jet."

Steve held a finger on his earpiece. "Natasha, do you hear me?"

"Loud and clear, Steve."

"Give The Hulk his lullaby. We need Banner. We have a medical emergency here."

"Roger that."

He looked back at Julia. "Can you walk?"

"Not for long. I get dizzy and it hurts," Julia answered, swallowing her pain away. "But I can try."

Slowly, she tried to sit up. With the help of Bucky and Sam, she managed to stand up. They stood still for a few seconds to help steady her. The men kept holding her, while she leaned on their shoulders. Julia took a deep, painful breath and nodded as a sign they could start walking.

They went into the hallway, with the Captain at the front and Wanda at the back. Slowly they were walking towards another hallway. In the far distance, The Captain saw a group of HYDRA soldiers running towards them. "Captain," he heard Wanda. He looked over his shoulder and saw more HYDRA soldiers closing in. Wanda already placed a magical wall to protect them. The soldiers stopped and aimed their weapons at The Avengers. Wanda enclosed the magical wall around the heroes. The Avengers stood around in a circle with Julia in their middle. They protected her. The pain in her side took over and she decided to sit on the ground again. She laid a hand on her wound and felt the blood trickle down her fingers. "Well, well, well. All The Avengers. Right where I want them." Julia's eyes widened, and anger boiled in her veins as she recognized the voice.

Natasha ran through the woods of the Swiss Alps. In the distance, she could hear The Hulk roar. When she saw the green giant, she slowed down her pace. She watched as he broke down the trees around him.

"Hey big guy." The Hulk looked up. "I see you've been busy." The giant huffed as he threw away a tree. She looked around and saw a few HYDRA soldiers on the ground. "And you had company."

She stopped walking and looked up at him. The Hulk turned around. She reached out a hand. Slowly The Hulk calmed down as he looked at her. He walked towards her and laid a hand in hers. She could feel his rough skin.

"We need the man's help. Someone got hurt very bad," Natasha gently said. Carefully she removed her hand out of his and looked in his eyes. He shook his head and stumbled backwards. He turned around and went into the QuinJet. She could hear him roar from the inside. After a moment she went inside the jet. She saw Bruce Banner kneeling on the floor, panting. "Bruce?" she said carefully.

He was shocked by her voice and looked around in panic. "What? Did something happen?"

She nodded. "Steve needs our help. Someone got hurt and needs medical support," she explained.

He carefully stood up. "Who got hurt?"

"I don't know, but it's not him," she said as she walked to him. "Let's fly this thing to the facility and help them out."

Alexander Pierce walked up from behind the HYDRA soldiers. He looked at The Avengers. "This really brightened up my day." He stood still close to Captain America, with the magical wall between them. "Captain." He looked along the Captain at his Winter Soldier. "I see one of our greatest weapons has joined your army."

Bucky looked over his shoulder at his creator. The old man looked back at The Captain. "Remember he is under my control." Then he heard a groan. He looked at the floor and saw Julia panted in pain. "Oh Julia. What did I say? Stay with Rumlow for your own safety," Pierce said, concerned.

"He's gone," Captain said suddenly. Pierce looked back at him. "She defeated him. She is safe with us now."

Pierce huffed out a smile. "Is it true, my dear?"

Julia stood up carefully. Slowly and unsteadily she approached the man. She remained standing by leaning on the shoulder of Captain America. "Yes, I did. With my bare hands," she snarled.

The old man looked disappointed at her. "Julia? How could you do that to your own family?"

"HYDRA is not family. This organization abuses people by brainwashing them, uses them as test objects and trains them to fight against mankind," Bucky said as he walked closer to Captain America and Julia. He laid an arm around Julia's waist. "Family gives you love, protection and support."

Pierce raised his eyebrows. "Well, HYDRA did find you and Zola gave you a protected life."

"Correct, Herr Pierce." Zola's voice filled the hallway. Julia and Bucky looked around slightly panicked.

"Don't worry. He is just a voice in a computer," Captain America calmed them down.

"Just a voice?" Zola reacted angry. "I'll show you what this voice can cause. Žilánie."

Bucky shook his head.

"Ržávyj."

"Buck? Are you okay?" Falcon asked worried.

"No," Bucky groaned as he closed his own ears.

"Simnátsat."

Bucky gritted his teeth, fell on his knees and started to pant. The Avengers looked down in worry at him.

Julia kneeled beside the traumatic soldier. She wanted to touch his shoulder, but out of fear for her powers she shopped herself.

"Péčʹ."

Bucky growled.

"Make it stop!" she begged, while she looked at Pierce. He did nothing but smile, like he enjoyed the scene.

Captain America crouched down next to his friend grabbed his shoulders. "Bucky, don't listen to him."

"Rassvét."

The agonized soldier screamed out his internal pain. The Falcon looked up and saw a speaker on the ceiling, right above them.

"Dévjit."

He grabbed his gun and shot at it to break the chain of words. The speaker exploded followed by a disturbing sound. Everybody held their ears as the sound reached a piercing crescendo, including Wanda. The magical wall disappeared. After a few seconds the sound died out and everybody released their ears. Falcon and Wanda looked at The Captain and Julia, who took care of Bucky.

Bucky looked at Julia. She was relieved to see his eyes had his original blue-green color. But he could see in her eyes she was in pain and that life was leaving her body very slowly. Then they heard a clicking sound.

They looked up and saw that every HYDRA soldier, including Alexander Pierce, was aiming their weapons on the Avengers.


	8. Chapter 8

The Quinjet took off in the air and flew towards the HYDRA facility. Bruce Banner behind wheel, while Natasha kept her eyes on the radar. She could see five dots in a circle surrounded by other dots.

"A hostage on the west side," Natasha informed Bruce. "Five persons surrounded. The others must be HYDRA."

Bruce glanced at the radar. "That's Cap and his team."

A mixture of shock and worry went through her body. She laid a finger on her earpiece. "Steve?" No respond. "Steve do you hear me?" More silence. She looked at Banner. "What is wrong with the communication system?"

He sighed. "I guess the big guy broke it."

Natasha sighed, slightly irritated, and prepared herself for the worst scenario to occur.

The Avengers were sitting on the ground, while handcuffed. Their weapons and items were in the middle of the group of HYDRA soldiers. Wanda and Julia had an inhibitor collar around their neck that prevented using their powers. Pierce still aimed his gun at them.

Julia laid her head on Bucky's shoulder while she stared into the distance. Bucky noticed her breathing wasn't stable. He and Captain America looked at each other, both worried about her.

"She needs help, Steve. She won't make it."

Captain looked at Pierce. "Listen, you've got what you want. Now let her go."

Pierce walked towards him, stopped at his feet and looked down at him. "I will let her go. But first we need to resolve some family business."

Captain looked at Julia. She woke up from her stare and looked up at the old man.

He looked at her. "Stand up." Julia didn't move and kept looking at him. "I said, stand up!" Pierce said, frustrated. He looked over his shoulder and cocked his head to the group of soldiers. Two soldiers ran up to her, grabbed her by the arms and dragged her to a wall. They pushed her against it and demanded in the Russian language to stay standing. Then they joined to the rest of the group. To remain standing, Julia leaned against the wall.

Pierce walked to the group of HYDRA soldiers and faced her. "You probably got that stubbornness from that mutant."

"What mutant?" Julia asked confused.

"Your father."

"My parents are humans."

"You really think I make things up?" He smiled at her. "What if I tell you that your parents were very close friends with my daughter? That my daughter gave birth to you and she gave you up, to protect herself?"

Julia looked confused at him.

"Don't listen to him! He is manipulating you," Bucky warned.

"Bucky, please don't," Wanda warned him, anxiety in her voice.

Pierce aimed his gun at Julia. "Shut up, or I will shoot her."

Julia started to panic as she looked back and forth between Pierce and Bucky.

"You are bluffing," Bucky angrily yelled at him.

"Buck, stop!" Captain America warned him.

But Bucky's rage went on. "Everything he says is not true, Julia!"

Suddenly a shot filled the area. Steve and Sam looked in shock at the scene and Wanda burst into tears. Anger boiled in Bucky's veins, but tried to stay calm.

Pierce looked at his hostages. "Let this be a lesson." He turned back to Julia. "Where was I?"

She could hardly stand on her feet as she gasped for air. Her body shivered and a moment later she sank through her knees. She clenched her teeth while pain took over her whole body. Blood dripped from her left shoulder.

"Oh well, this story isn't important." Again, he aimed his gun at Julia. "It's better to finish this."

"W—why did I…deserve this?" Julia asked, as she almost choked in her own breath.

"Because you betrayed HYDRA and your families."

"You…you know what I…I'm thinking?" Pierce placed his finger on the trigger. "Rumlow…he's right, huh?" The old man just looked with pinched eyes at her. "Me being a piece of shit, a coward…" A stab of pain went through her body. She swallowed away her pain. "I'm…useless."

The Avengers couldn't do more than just watching the scene.

"And you're very naïve. But I think you are right, and I should have listened to him," Pierce admitted.

Julia leaned her head against the wall. "Then finish me," she said.

Suddenly the wall across them blasted apart, The Hulk jumping into the building, growling and smashing at the HYDRA soldiers. The Quinjet appeared, shooting at the soldiers, while they shot back.

"Get down!" Captain America yelled. The Avengers listened to him and laid down on the ground, while bullets flew along their ears. Then the jet flew away.

With his own remarkable strength and metal arm, Bucky broke the handcuffs with a scream. Quickly he went to Wanda, taking the collar with his metal hand, braking it and removing it from her neck. "Save the others," he said after he broke the handcuffs and rushed over to the group of HYDRA soldiers.

The soldiers fired their weapons. Bucky held up his metal hand and repelled the bullets. He punched the soldiers, knocking them out, and reached for Captain's shield and Falcons wings. "Sam!" he yelled, throwing his backpack at him.

"Careful, those are my wings!" Sam warned before he caught it.

Bucky held up the shield as two other soldiers came up shooting at him. Then The Hulk quickly walked up to the soldiers, grabbed them by the neck and threw them away.

"Thanks!" Bucky said to the green giant as he turned around. He saw his friend in a punch-fight with HYDRA while two other soldiers ran up to him. "Steve!" Bucky called him and threw the shield. The shield hit the two soldiers, hit the wall and flew into Captain America's hand. "Thanks, jerk!"

"You're welcome…" Bucky replied, but got jumped by a HYDRA soldier on his back before he could finish his sentence. He grabbed the soldier's arm and threw him over his shoulder. The soldier landed on his back and Bucky punched him knock out with his hand of steel. "…punk," as he finished his sentence.

As the battle went on, Julia laid on the ground still being cuffed and the collar around her neck. She was breathing unstable and heavy, blood dripped from both wounds. Her view was blurry caused by the fever. Pierce stood above her, gun aimed on her head.

Slowly his gun blazed red. He dropped it as the weapon burned his hand and looked at it as it melted away. He looked up as Wanda joined them. She stood between him and Julia, her left hand glowing.

"Stop the manipulation on her. She has suffered enough," Wanda demanded.

"All I do with her is some business."

"This is no business. She is not your family. You want to kill her," she hissed.

Pierce huffed out a smile at her.

"You have been using and abusing her all the time," Wanda continued.

Behind him he heard a clicking sound of a gun and looked over his shoulder.

"It's game over, " Sam said, aiming his gun at Pierce's head.

The old man sighed and held up his hands. Sam took his left hand and moved it to his back. Suddenly Pierce turned around and head-butted him, made Sam fall to the ground. Then wind blew through his grey hair. He looked up and saw the angry face of The Hulk. The giant took the old man by the waist and growled in his face. Pierce screamed in fear when The Hulk threw him through the hole in the wall, out of the HYDRA facility.

Wanda pulled Sam back on his feet before they went to Julia.

They kneeled next to Julia and Sam removed the handcuffs. She looked at them with glazed eyes and her body shivered, caused by the fever. Sam went with his hand to the collar to remove it, but Julia stopped him. "No wait," she whispered. He looked at her. Gently she laid her hand on his cheek. She smiled when she touched his skin. "I can…touch," she whispered happy. He smiled back at her. "Want to keep the collar on?" She nodded as she removed her hand from his face. "Okay, will do."

Wanda laid her hand on the wound of Julia's side to close it with her powers, but Julia stopped her and laid a hand on hers. They looked in each other eyes. Tears welled up in Wanda's eyes when she saw her pain. Julia held Wanda's hand firmly and gave her a little pinch. They said nothing to each other. They just looked in each other eyes. It was like they were communicating with their minds. Julia gave her a smile. Wanda cried and Sam laid a hand on her shoulder to comfort her. Wanda released Julia's hand, stood up and walked away leaving Sam and Julia alone.

On the background the fight between the HYDRA soldiers and The Avengers had ended.

Bucky and Steve looked around at the fallen HYDRA soldiers, while they caught their breath.

"Remember when I was fighting two guys for one girl?" Bucky asked his friend.

"The fight where I jumped in and got punched by one of them? Leaving me with a black eye?"

Bucky nodded. "It feels like that again." He looked at him. "Only we got stronger."

Bucky and Steve walked back to the others.

Wanda walked up to Bucky and dropped herself into his arms. He embraced her.

"She's saying her goodbyes," she sobbed in his ears. Bucky closed his eyes and held her tight, while Wanda burst out into tears. Steve felt mournful as he looked from them to Sam and the wounded Julia.

Sam looked up at The Captain, released a sigh and looked very concerned.

Captain gave him a little nod and went to The Hulk, who stared out of the big hole in the wall. He knew it would take time to call Natasha. It was up to him to bring Bruce Banner back.

"Big guy," he said carefully. Hulk huffed and looked at him. "I want to show you something."

He turned around and walked back to the others while he hoped The Hulk will follow him. As he walked back he looked over his shoulder and saw The Hulk following him. He stopped close his group. "Please have a look at her." The Hulk looked at Julia. "We need the doctor." The Hulk huffed. "For her sake, please bring us Banner," Captain begged. Julia looked at The Hulk and reached out her hand. Carefully The Hulk reached out his hand and laid it in hers. She could feel his rough skin. He looked in her eyes and saw the pain she suffered. Quickly he removed his hand. He stumbles away, fell on his knees and changes slowly into Bruce Banner. Captain America and The Falcon walked to Banner as he took his breath.

"Doc?"

Banner looked up in shock. "Steve? Where am I?"

The captain released a sigh, being relieved he had succeeded. "Inside HYDRA. We need your help and fast," he explained. "Julia is severely wounded."

Bruce nodded. "Okay, what can I expect?"

"Stab wound on the right side of her stomach, gunshot wound in her left shoulder. She lost a lot of blood caused by that. High fever, weak pulse, but she's fighting hard. Very hard," Sam informed.

Bruce was amazed. "Oh my god. The bullet is still in her shoulder?"

"As far as we know, yes," Steve answered.

"We have to bring her to the QuinJet for surgery. Fast!" Bruce mentioned.

"No," Wanda sobbed suddenly. The men looked at each other. "She doesn't want to be saved. She's done. I can feel it."

"Then let's bring her home," Steve said.

Bucky kneeled next to Julia when Sam went to The Captain. With his metal hand he touched her pale face and stroked with his thumb over her bright red cheek. She looked into his mysterious blue-green eyes.

Tears welled up in her eyes, while Bucky stroke her hot forehead. "The people…I have killed…" she almost choked in a sob.

"Sshh, save your energy," Bucky hushed.

"They… were so scared and…" A tear rolled over her cheek.

"Sshh." He wiped the tear away with his metal thumb.

"I'm…s-sorry."

"Don't be sorry. HYDRA did this, not you. It's over now."

Then Steve stood behind his friend and laid a hand on his shoulder. They looked to each other, Steve nodded at him and Bucky nodded back. Bucky moved Julia's arm around his neck, placed his arm underneath her legs and lifted her up. The whole team walked through the facility to the QuinJet. While they walked, Julia laid her head against Bucky's chest and she could hear his heart beating. She closed her eyes as the pounding beat made her calm.

At the QuinJet, The Black Widow had a fight with HYDRA soldiers. As the last soldier attacked her she quickly knocked him out. She looked around to see if all the four HYDRA were knocked out.

In a distance she heard footsteps.

Out of the corner of her eye she saw an item flying towards her. She dived away, as it knocked out a fifth soldier who had sneaked up on her, and the item flew back to Steve. He caught his weapon and placed it on his back. She looked at him.

"Thank me later. We have to go," Steve said as he quickly walked by and got into the Quinjet.

Natasha was a bit confused at his action. She looked up at the rest of the team, all with worried faces. She went to Wanda as she saw her sad face. She embraced her when Wanda started crying. She hugged her tight. Then she saw Bucky with Julia in his arms, unconscious and covered in blood. A shock went through her body when he walked by.

Steve took a seat behind the wheel while the others got into the QuinJet. Next to him, Natasha took place. They started the engine and slowly moved the jet up in the air.

Sam unfolded two seats, so Bucky could lay Julia on it. Carefully he laid her on the seats. He kneeled next to her and stroked her forehead with his flesh hand. "She's cold, Sam," Bucky said worried. Sam looked shocked at him. Bucky laid his hand around her neck to check her pulse. He looked up worried at Sam. "I feel nothing."

"Doc!" Sam called Bruce.

Quickly Bruce moved over to them and checked her pulse. He looked at him with a sad face and released a sigh. "She's gone."

Bucky looked confused at him. "What?" he blurred out.

"She died. I'm sorry."

Wanda, who sat across them, started to cry. Natasha stood up from her seat to comfort her.

Bucky shook his head, very confused. "No. No, she can't be."

"But she did."

Bucky looked at her and shook his head. "No," he whispered. Quickly he removed the collar from her neck, threw it away and held her hand. "Please take some of my energy, Julia." Then he shook gently her shoulder. "Wake up."

"Buck, she's gone," Sam told him.

After a moment Bucky stopped and waited until she woke up. Nothing happened. Guilt slammed into his body as tears welled up in his eyes. "What if I had kept my mouth shut and she hadn't been shot?" He looked up at Bruce. "Would she have survived?"

Bruce sighed. He found it difficult to answer. "I guess not. She had lost a lot of blood."

Due to shock Bucky got into a trance. He stood up and walked to the other side of the jet. His hands turned into fists, while he fought against his tears and clenched his teeth. A moment later, he fell on his knees and screamed out all his sorrows. Natasha and Wanda went to him and embraced him to support him. Bucky hid his face in his hands and cried.


	9. Chapter 9

Days had passed after the battle against HYDRA in Swiss.

Bucky sat on the couch with the TV turned on. His eyes were staring at the screen, not really watching what was happening. He'd been doing this since they had buried Julia. A knock on the door 'woke' him up. He looked up, blinked a few times and stood up after a second round of knocking. He opened the door and saw Natasha standing there.

"Hi," she greeted with a smile.

"Uhm…hi."

"I was nearby and wanted to check on you." Bucky looked confused at her. "Can I come in?"

Bucky blinked a few times. Then he realized this was reality. "Oh, sure." He stepped aside and let Natasha into his apartment.

She entered and looked around. The living room was small but big enough for one person. She saw an old couch, a coffee table and closet with the TV in it.

"Nice place."

"Thanks," Bucky reacted. "Would you like to drink something?"

She turned around to face him. "I won't be here for long." She lifted a plastic bag. "I have some lasagna leftovers. I bet you can use a decent meal."

Bucky smiled and took the bag from her. "That's nice of you." He took it to his kitchen and placed it in the fridge and closed the door. On the door of the fridge was Julia's note. He read it.

"Everything okay?" he heard Natasha.

He sighed and looked up at her. He saw her leaning against kitchen counter. "It's something stupid."

"Tell me. What's stupid?" Natasha asked, while she hoped he would explain.

Bucky crossed his arms over his chest and leaned against the fridge. He remained silenced as he was searching for his words. Natasha waited patiently.

He took a deep breath.

"Julia was the first person I have met who got involved into HYDRA and escaped." He looked at her. "The absolute first person. Never in my life after HYDRA have I met anyone knows the struggle to break free from them," he explained.

Natasha nodded. "And so were you… for her," she added. A silent followed. She observed Bucky while he stared to the ground. She noticed the dark circles underneath his eyes and he looked tired. "Bucky?" He looked up at her. "Get some sleep."

He nodded, but his mind wasn't on earth. Natasha walked over to him, gave him a kiss on the cheek and left his home. He heard the front door closing. He opened the fridge again and took out a can of beer. While he opened the can and drank from it, he walked back to the living room. He swallowed the beer and removed the can from his lips.

"Hey," he heard a soft female voice.

His body froze as the voice sounded familiar to his ears. Slowly he turned around. He dropped his can and took a few steps back, eyes widened in shock. He couldn't believe his eyes.0

"Oh my god," he whispered, his voice trembling. "Julia?"

There she was, in his apartment. Slowly she walked up to him. "I'm sorry. I was too late to say goodbye to you." She stopped, just five feet away from him. "So, I'm here to say goodbye."

Bucky was confused. "How…I mean…you…" he stuttered.

She smiled at him and embraced him. His eyes widened when he felt her arms around his waist. Slowly and unsure he placed his hands on her upper back and placed his chin on her head with his nose into her hair. After a moment, tears welled up in his eyes. "I'm sorry, Julia," he sobbed. "I should have kept my mouth shut." Julia held him a little tighter. "If I hadn't freaked out you wouldn't have been killed by that asshole."

"It's okay, Bucky. I'm not mad at you," she said as she looked up at him. She smiled and placed a bare hand on his cheek. "But I'm thankful."

Once again Bucky was confused and they looked into each other eyes. Gently she pulled his face closer to hers. Their nose touched each other. Julia moved her lips to his forehead and kissed it. During the kiss Bucky closed his eyes. He could hardly imagine that she was here in his apartment. He felt her releasing him. He opened his eyes and looked up. He blinked his eyes when he didn't see her. He looked around.

"Julia?"

He looked at the spot where he had dropped his beer. It was clean. Quickly he went to the kitchen and opened the fridge. He saw four cans of beer, two pizza slices, but no package with lasagna. He closed the door and leaned against it. He rubbed into his eyes. "What the hell is going on in my head?"

The doorbell rang. Bucky looked up in shock. Slowly he went to his front door, but was scared to open it.

"Natasha?"

"No, it's me. Steve."

He leaned with his head against the door. "It's Steve," he whispered to himself.

At the other side of the door, Steve waited patiently till it opened. Suddenly the door rushed open and his friend flew around his neck. "Buck? Dude? Are you okay?" he asked worried.

Bucky burst out in tears, almost hyperventilating. "I'm going crazy, Steve!"

With Bucky stuck against his body, Steve went inside the apartment and closed the front door. He took his friend by the shoulders, gently pushing him off him. He looked in his eyes, which were filled with tears, pain and regret.

"What happened?" Steve asked him, while they walked to the living room. They both took a seat on the couch.

"She was here."

"Who?" Bucky hid his face in his hands and cried. "Do you mean, Julia was here?" His sad friend nodded while he still hid his face in his hands. Steve shook his head in sorrow, laid an arm around Bucky's shoulder and pulled him closer for an embrace. He had never seen his friend so vulnerable.

"I feel so stupid, Steve. I had soldiers die in my arms and got sad about it." He rubbed his eyes and released his face. "But with her…" He shook his head in misunderstanding. "I don't understand myself and why I feel and act like this."

"Listen to me, Bucky," Steve said. "You both have in common that you escaped from HYDRA. You both had a rough past because of that." Bucky nodded his head while he listened. "And I bet she is grateful you found her and helped her or else she wouldn't have come here to say goodbye."

A moment of silence on Bucky's side.

"Natasha said the same."

Steve looked confused at him. "Natasha? How? She is on a mission with Tony."

Bucky sighed. "As a hallucination. Just like Julia." He looked at Steve. "I guess it's better to go to sleep."

Steve patted him on the shoulder. "Good plan, buddy." They stood up and embraced each other. "You know I'm here for you," Steve said, in his ear.

"I know. Till the end of the line."

He put the key in the lock and opened his door. He entered his apartment and went to his living room. He stood still as he saw her looking at his picture wall. She looked up to him.

"I really love your friendship with him," Julia said. Steve smiled. "It's so unique." She walked up to Steve and stopped with enough distance between them. "Please take care of him."

"I will," Steve promised.

She smiled. She gave him a salute. He did the same in return, as she slowly faded away.

Steve released a sigh. He walked to a window and looked up at the dark sky. The sky was black like coal. But there was one bright star. Steve looked at it and the star started to flicker. He smiled, knowing it's her and that she was safe now.


End file.
